


Masks and Pills

by Abrakalid



Category: Naruto, The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, Child Abuse, Child Soldiers, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, Family Dynamics, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Reincarnation, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abrakalid/pseuds/Abrakalid
Summary: Number Seven.His new name and a memory of a team of death and guilt, and other of hope and dreams.This new team, he thought, is hopeless.A time anomaly and suddenly the entire timeline was rewritten.He (she?) didn't want to cause the apocalypse, but the others didn't get the memo.Kakashi wakes up as Vanya.Reincarnation!Fic
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & The Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves & The Hargreeves
Comments: 52
Kudos: 204





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I searched for a Naruto and Umbrella Academy Crossover fanfic but couldn't find any, so I had to make one.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own TUA nor Naruto.

**Masks and Pills**

**Chapter 1**

**Prologue**

The first time Kakashi opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything. He heard surprised shouts and exclamations; they were surrounding him. Panic flood on his veins as his heartbeat started to drum against his chest, he was unable to do something, his limbs too weak. In a moment of weakness he started to cry. A high sound came from his mouth, childish, different from his voice, and it was unbearable to his own ears. Surprised, he stopped, and lost consciousness after that.

The voice of a young female made him feel safe, she whispered in a language he didn’t recognize. He slept most of the time, curled around warm fabric in a cold place.

Hours, days and even weeks passed, he wasn’t sure.

Kakashi saw glimpses of an old man, his eyes studying him. The comforting voice was no more.

He was in pain and couldn't stop screaming, lighting burning him in a way that shouldn’t. A sound of something breaking and lights blinking, he lost consciousness after that.

Hs own screaming woke him up, the sound was unbearable. He felt hot liquid coming out of his ears. There was dust on the air.

He was more aware of his surroundings. Little, but rapid heartbeats on the same room as him. The sound of ink on paper, a strange heartbeat not far from him.

.

Years of experience told him to calm down and analyze the situation. They were experimented on him, no doubt. He didn't know the purpose, or whom was doing it but he needed to get out of here.

His range of vision was limited, he couldn't see more than half a meter. His other senses weren't working properly either.

He could only listen, and while that fact was comforting, he didn’t have a clue as to where he was. He didn't remember what happened before he was captured.

His memories were failing him. As days passed it was harder for him to remember who he was.

He memorized different dates, names, places, anything to hold onto. His teacher's name, his former teammates. His father's name. Each rule of the shinobi code.

The names were on his lips, but his mind was in a blank state, he was losing it.

He wished for a scroll to write everything down.

There were times in which arms surrounded him, a feminine voice singing to him in an unknown language. The familiarity made him accept his destiny, to forget everything, and just sleep.

Months passed and he knew what happened.

His mind had been transferred to the body of a female baby. He wanted to cry and scream, but that only meant being locked in a room without sound. For some reason he couldn't calm down, he was susceptible to anything. He blamed his young, easily irritable mind. Given the limited mobility of his body, much of his time was used to listen to any sound. He heard six small heartbeats, beating rapidly. He easily distinguished them from the adult hearts.

He realized that he wasn't alone, he wasn't the only one suffering from the frustration of being unable to defend himself or communicate. To escape.

He didn't know whether to be relieved or not.

Maybe he was in a powerful Genjutsu, or he had lost it and it was all a figment of his imagination. A tracking team would come to his rescue.

He didn't know how long it had been since he first woke up, but one day he was taken to a room with the other babies around.

Thanks to the motor skills of his body, he was able to crawl towards one of the babies. Thinking that maybe they were in the same situation, he made use of the standard Konoha sign language that was taught to both shinobi and civilians. His hands moved awkwardly as he delivered his message, using the words ally, help, yes, no,?

The baby showed no signs of recognition, instead he started to salivate.

He persisted and tried at different times, so as not to arouse suspicion, but it was a fruitless endeavor. None of them responded, they were, indeed, normal babies.

He focused on honing his motor skills. Every day he tried to get on his two legs and walk. It was a time-consuming process, but he succeeded after two months.

He noted with humor how one of the babies tried to copy him. He was the second one who learned how to walk. Probably a prodigy.

Other days he tried to activate his chakra paths, but he got nothing.

They were fed and cared by different caretakers. They stimulated them to move their bodies, they read to them and pointed out different objects in the room to recognize their name. The language was foreign, he decided to pay special attention to the words and the way they pronounce it. He'd point at one of the objects, so that they’d tell him its name.

To avoid unwanted attention, he decided to wait until at least one of the other babies spoke first. The prodigy was the first one who did it, seconded by the girl with dark skin, who resembled a Kumo citizen. She couldn't stop blabbering; indeed, she was the chatty one of their group. There was one who had trouble speaking.

The smaller boy, who had slanted eyes, surprised him one day when his favorite toy was snatched from his hand by the crying kid -Six and Four-, he corrected himself. The child began a loud temper tantrum, cries and screams that had his ears throbbing with pain, but he couldn't help but stare with morbid fascination as tentacles appeared from his chest.

Quickly, a caretaker injected him with a substance that made him lose consciousness. She took him out of the room.

Kakashi wasn't sure if the child had a Bloodline limit. He had never seen anything like that.

He decided to observe the other children, thinking that perhaps they had a similar ability. He sat down in one of the chairs of the table, writing and drawing with crayons. One of the nannies had taught him how to write his name.

Seven.

Every now and then memories would come back, and he'd recall three teenagers, one had pink hair. He put down the crayon and fixed his eyes on the blond child. Number One had a habit of breaking his toys and furniture, he was strong enough for that, unlike him who couldn’t. He then looked at the dark-haired boy, who was called Number Five, and noticed with curiosity that his features were similar to the blond, he thought that maybe they were brothers or cousins.

His attention was interrupted by the tanned boy, Number Two, who threw a stuffed animal on his face. He looked at him and sighed, that boy's aim was perfect. He tried to return the favor, but failed, the teddy barely touched his feet. The child laughed, picked up the toy and throwed it at another victim.

Feeling bored, he got up from his chair, and walked towards the shelf. It was filled with children's books. He took one, randomly, and started reading. He had every intention of learning the language, his young brain absorbed information like a sponge.

He was about to finish the book when, suddenly, one of the children appeared in front of him and snatched the book from his hands. He froze, he swore the boy was on the other side of the room.

He groaned with pain when one of them pulled down his hair with force.

The childish laughter annoyed him.

That night he slept in the room without sound.

.

Most of the time Seven planned his escape, but gave up when he saw his current physical condition. He was weak like a civilian, although he still didn't fully understand his own abilities, they were dangerous and volatile, just like his emotions. If he didn't like the look or taste of the food, or how the caretaker treated him that day, the frustration would build up and the plates would explode. Or worse.

He avoided them all. He noticed gaps appearing in his already fragile memory and then a feeling of emptiness. He started to meditate. It was difficult to concentrate, being surrounded by six excitable children, who from time to time forced him to play with them.

The caretakers watched him with anxiety and fear, aware of the nature of his abilities. It wasn’t surprising, his caretakers didn’t last long.

He’d have to wait a few more years to escape. For that, he had to train his body, he’d ran from side to side of the room, jump as high as he could, sleep and eat properly. It was only a matter of time.

To improve the dexterity of his hands he drew in notebooks, books, any surface.

Other days he’d simply emulate Two, annoying the children by throwing them toys on their face.

The caretakers saw them with hawk eyes. Their interactions, behaviors, likes, dislikes, abilities, everything.

Sometimes he’d approach her designated caretaker to take a look at what she wrote in her notebook, but she’d always hide it when it was within his reach.

He wasn't sure what abilities the children had, or if they had powers at all, but there were incidents that left him wondering. Maybe they needed more time.

On the other hand, he didn't know in which village he was, yet knew that he wasn't in the Fire Country. The language, appearance and clothing was telling enough. The absence of chakra was alarming.

He had several theories, but he preferred not to think about them.

.

Like every morning, he was being bathed by his caretaker. Having memorized how to get to the children's room, he was surprised because the caretaker carried him out of the building towards another one. She led him in a different room, It looked like a classroom. There was a blackboard in the background wall, maps, he made a mental note to study them carefully. There were seven desks with their respective chairs.

She seated him in a chair. He noticed that the table had the number seven printed on its surface.

The other caretakers brought their children. Then they left the room and a tall, elderly man with a monocle on his left eye entered. It was more surprising to see a chimpanzee behind him. Their clothing seemed foreign to him. They didn't have a bandana or anything to help him figure out their affiliation.

“Silence,” the man said when he saw Two talking to Four. Someone he had seen before; he finally showed his face.

"Children," he finally said, after seeing that everyone was paying attention to him. “I am Sir Reginald Hargreeves. I bought all of you when you were little. You may refer to me as The Monocle.”

Kakashi was perplexed.

“You have something that makes you special, extraordinary, abilities that makes you different from the rest of the world. It is your duty to control and understand your abilities and reach your potential, as your main purpose is to save the world from imminent extinction. You belong to the Umbrella Academy, and as my students, Ill train each of you.”

For all the things Kakashi expected, this wasn’t one of them.

"You'll have to be in this room at 8 AM without fail everyday. I don't want to hear complaints or whining, and if any of you cannot comply with such a simple order there will be consequences. Do you understand?"

They slowly nodded.

Reginald's gaze rested on them, calculative eyes that were searching for something. He nodded and focused his gaze on him.

"Number 7, come with me. Dr. Pogo, start the lesson.”

“Yes sir,” the chimp said. He had calm voice.

Seven followed him into another room, there was a table in the middle with several glasses lined up in a row.

"Number Seven,” the man addressed him. “This is your designated training day.”

“Right,” Kakashi said.

“Are you aware of the nature of your abilities?”

“Somewhat.”

The man studied his face. “I see. Then you are aware that the sound around you is your weapon, that you can transform it into energy.”

“Yeah.”

The old man narrowed his eyes. “Your first task consists in destroying the cups in front of you.” He had a tuning fork in his hand. “Focus on the sound around you, Number Seven.”

He had nothing to lose, so he walked over to the table and closed his eyes. He focused on the noise in the room to destroy the glasses but couldn't. He started to get frustrated, and after what seemed like minutes, he managed to destroy half of them.

"Number Seven, you will not be able to accompany the others until you finish the exercise."

He sighed and focused again, the remaining cups were destroyed, as was the monocle.

Reginald looked at Seven with an indecipherable gaze, he scratched his neck and laughed lightly.

"Sorry, my control isn't good." Reginald kept looking at him, this time with curious eyes.

The thing is, his power wasn’t only tied to sound, but also to his emotions. His infantile brain had yet to develop, any emotion he felt was illogical and uncontrollable.

"You can join them," he finally said, and left the room.

For the rest of the day he thought of his words. According to him, having powers was a rarity in itself, the other humans were powerless, civilians. Ordinary. Not a single mention of the Elemental Nations or the Shinobi system.

He didn't want to accept it, but everything was starting to make sense.

He was in another world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakahi is introduced to his new nanny. Things get a little darker.

**Masks and Pills**

**Chapter 2**

**Arc I: The problem with nannies**

**Part I**

When she was betrayed by her own corporation, she was smiling, had learned at a young age that no matter what they throwed at her face, she would never lose her smile because she handled things differently. She had been absent from work for three days, being left for dead on a mission gone badly. Big mistake, she chuckled. But nothing mattered anymore, so she took her briefcase with a date on mind.

1995.

The mission was simple: eliminate the source of all the problems. She did her research, knowing everything about her target. The mission’s details were planned in a year and her boss and coworkers did not have a single clue. She was not the only one thinking the same, they would thank her someday. It took guts to do it. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom’s mirror disapprovingly, her eyes were puffy, and the skin looked sickly, so she began to apply a discreet makeup. Her messy hair had a solution but that blonde color sadly had to go. She looked with disgust at the hair dye, brown. She would miss her blonde hair, that is for sure, but brunettes were more trustworthy. The job would be hers, after all.

It had been a long wait, but the job was done. She praised her target, who was unusually cunning and lethal, her broken arm and cuts all over her body were proof of that. But she did not expect her to have a firearm in her possession. Not the drug that cost her a lot of money. A shot in the leg and a hit in the head. Mission complete.

She watched her target bleed out, and as the blood flowed, she felt liberated.

The screams at her side tainted her victory. She did not think twice and pulled the trigger.

Ah, silence.

She thought of her son, who had been promised his life would not be in danger. But it no longer mattered.

.

Kakashi looked at his reflection with a feeling of discomfort. A small face for big brown eyes, a small nose, and feminine lips. He disliked mirrors. A single glimpse of his brown eyes or that brown hair had him feel a pressure on his chest, followed by the phantom sensation of hot liquid dripping from his hands. He rubbed them together and, in the distance, he heard the screech of wildly fluttering birds.

Behind him the new nanny brushed his hair roughly, her head kept moving in the direction of the strokes of the brush. She watched with annoyance as she smiled, although it looked more like a purse of the lips.

“Leave it.”

“But I'm not done.” He watched her narrowing his eyes. The caretakers were getting more and more inopportune, he did not know what the selection process was, but Reginald seemed to choose the most annoying ones, he did not doubt that he did it on purpose, maybe he had told them that they should try any method to make him lose his patience. His mind remembered one of them, red hair, and kind voice. Not all of them.

“I said,” he said, almost in a growl, “leave it.” As soon as he said it the mirror cracked on one side. The nanny did not seem to understand the danger she was in as she simply raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

“You’re dismissed.”

The nanny muttered something negative about him, clearly annoyed. She put the brush on the bed and finally left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He counted to ten.

The new nanny was problematic, since he saw her for the first time, he felt red alarms throughout his body, it was the way she walked, gracefully and confidently like a predator, that distinguished her from the others. The way she looked at him, a little grimace on her face. Calculative. She smelled like blood. Tall with a solid build, a trained body that could not even be hidden in that uniform. She did not seemed bothered that her life was in danger, his other nannies had good instincts, leaving him alone at the first warning, and resigning immediately after that, knowing that they weren't fit to deal with a strange child.

Reginald was not happy, quite the contrary. Looking at him disapprovingly every time a nanny quit. But he did not seem to understand that he did not need one, could take care of himself. Perhaps it was a test Reginald had created to see how much he could tolerate without killing someone. Sometimes he did not understand how the old man thought.

He watched her flip a page from her magazine, settling herself in a more comfortable position after finishing her breakfast, the empty plate in front of her. Looking closely, he saw red pigment inside her nails. He was eating a marshmallow cereal; Lucky Charms was written from the box. He did not want to eat anything she prepared, fear of being poisoned or drugged. Just being around her made him feel uneasy. Tense muscles.

He watched her every move and had memorized the sound of her heart, knowing where she was, to avoid a surprise attack.

But that was known to him, the thrill of the hunt.

Although if there was something positive that he could say about her, was that she did not force him to eat with a ridiculous act involving a spoon.

“Hey.” He lifted his gaze from the cereal bowl and saw Two near the door, touching his shirt in an uncharacteristic act of nerves. “Have you seen one of my new knives? Dad will kill me if he finds out I've lost one.”

“No,” he easily denied in a bored voice. “But you can ask Five, he has a knack for snatching things from others,” he said in a strange act of revenge. He was sure that it was Five who entered his room to steal and hide his favorite book somewhere in the mansion. Two frowned his brows, cheeks flushed with anger. He ate another spoonful of his cereal as he watched him run in the direction of Five's room. Surely a fight would start between the two.

“Five, get out of your room!” He stopped paying attention to the argument between the two and finished the cereal, moving his hand to the pocket feeling the small knife. On a childish impulse he giggled.

A shinobi is always ready.

“Creepy kid.” The nanny muttered disinterestedly, turning the page of her magazine.

And oh, the scene was familiar.

.

Kakashi's chest rose and fell, sweat dripping from his temples from the arduous afternoon training. His entire body felt warm, hyperventilating. His stamina was lacking and was even worse than the others. His previous training did not do much good, apparently. He sighed deeply. Losing his breath and seeing little improvement in his physical condition was disconcerting. His biology was just different, and the lack of chakra made things worse. He was physically weak, but he was not the only one.

He climbed another step of the stairs, feeling his thighs stiff. Another step more, with less force. He reached the finish line, with Six at his side. Reginald looked at them with one of his eyebrows raised, clearly not satisfied with their performance.

"Again."

He closed his eyes and went downstairs, Six looking no better than him. An extra hour of physical training was their punishment for having the worst performance of the group, while the others were celebrated with gifts, such as a special treat, toys or something they wanted, as long as they were not distractions.

Sometimes it was two hours more, if Reginald was feeling especially vindictive.

They finished and went to the gym, where he saw Two and Four talking animatedly, with a comic in hand. One doing Push Ups, Three next to him, reading a magazine while Five a little further away wrote in his notebook.

“Children, you may leave. Number Six and Seven, stay, you must clean this room and the stairs for such poor performance. Dismissed.”

He heard Six inhale and blink several times. For his part, he felt annoyed but did not show any expression on his face. Once Reginald left the room he lay down on the floor, his feet were killing him. He closed his eyes and heard the others walking towards the exit.

"Bye Seven." He opened one of his eyes upon hearing Three from across the room and raised a hand lazily in recognition. It seemed to be enough for her because she just walked away, undoubtedly thinking of taking a shower.

Six sat down next to him, rubbing his eyes at unshed tears. He seemed to calm down because from his bag he took out two towels and lent him one. He took it in silence and wiped away the sweat. A few minutes passed, none willing to start cleaning, still tired. He saw Six rummage through his bag again, pulling out two bottles of water, labeled to differentiate them.

He looked at him curiously.

“Here.” Six handed the bottle and he noticed that it was still cold and gave him a tired thank you but with questions in his head. Of all the kids, he was the kindest, if a little shy. It was not the first time that the two of them had been alone, most of the time they had to clean the training room. It was ironic, he thought the two of them had the most lethal abilities, remembering the tentacles of his stomach. Sadly, that did not mean that physically they were the best.

Seven looked sideways at him, green track suit and noticed that they were just as small.

He had learned that strength was predetermined by the size of the muscles and the length of the limbs. He was sure that it would be impossible for him to defeat opponents stronger than him in a melee fight, as a single hit could knock him out. He remembered a lithe-bodied blonde with monstrous strength from a different world. There was no reason to feel bad, was confident in his abilities, he was a shinobi anyway, his growth would be slow, that is true, but he would not be weak.

One was the strongest physically of the seven, but that was due to his special ability. He did not discredit him, as he was dedicated in his training and his improvement was fast. Reginald seemed especially focused on him.

“We should start.” I got up and gave Six a hand, helping him get up.

“Yeah, I don't want dad to be mad at us again.”

They began cleaning in a comfortable silence. Neither felt like spending more energy. He looked at the watch of the wall, dinner was starting in two hours.

“Our birthday is coming up, aren't you excited?” He stopped sweeping the floor to see Six, who seemed to want to jump with excitement. “Dad told me that if I get better with my powers, I can get anything I want as a present!” He supposed the promise of gifts was a good motivator.

“That's cool,” he answered at last.

Reginald did not promise him the same, and he did not know why that bothered him.

“Yeah! So, what do you have in mind?” Six did not drop the subject.

“He didn’t tell me.”

“Really?” He asked surprised for some reason. “That ... that sucks, I can ask him about it, if you want.”

“No need.”

The silence was uncomfortable.

When Six finished he walked towards the exit, but turned and smiled a little, avoiding his eyes, he had noticed that Six had difficulty keeping eye contact with him.

“Two, Four and I are planning a sleepover at my room, so I was wondering if you want to come.” He looked at him with hopeful eyes. He did not understand why he always invited him to spend more time with him, knowing that he would reject him like the times before.

“Thanks, but I'm not interested,” he tried to smile at him, but it felt so unnatural on his face that he only managed to wince. Sometimes he felt his face naked, aware of all his expressions that the rest could read.

“Oh,” Six managed to say and looked at his feet, clearly uncomfortable. He said goodbye not without saying: "Well, see you at dinner."

He waited for Six to leave and when he did not hear anyone went to the center of the room and positioned his body in one of the katas that he had been working on the last weeks. His muscles felt tense, but he ignored the discomfort. He repeated the movements until he was tired, feeling satisfied.

.

It was Monday, the day of individual training with Reginald. When entering the room, he noticed that there were different glasses on the table. Apparently, the exercise would be like the one of the first session, this time the glasses were placed in different positions and some of them were filled with water.

“This is an exercise of control, Number Seven. You must destroy the cups without water. This time, for every wrong cup you destroy you will have to do an extra hour of physical training.”

Reginald was under the idea that physical training frustrated him. Yes, it was tiring, but it was impossible for him to think of anything other than training or reading.

For each session Reginald increased the severity of the punishment, frustrated to see his lack of control. The ceiling lights had been replaced several times. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, counting to ten, a technique his previous nanny had taught him after watching him throw the worst tantrum in his short life. Remembering made him feel ashamed. Apparently, oatmeal was a trigger in his temper. He missed her and berated himself, feeling foolish, getting attached to someone was unnecessary. He blamed his childish hormones.

He opened one of his eyes and saw that he was on the right track, managing to break two cups. He concentrated again, listening to the sound of his breathing and the steady rhythm of his heart.

He heard Reginald write on his journal and turned to see him.

“I didn’t tell you to stop,” he chided him.

He concentrated again, the sound of the pen echoing in his mind. It was difficult, he admitted, all sounds could be used as energy, even the sound of finger veins could be fatal. He took a deep breath and with a modest movement of his fingers launched the sound waves at the glasses, causing them to explode violently.

He turned to see Reginald, who was still writing in his journal.

“You still struggle with your abilities, Number Seven, I’m deeply disappointed in you.” The water dripped from the table. He failed again.

Reginald did not wait for an answer and left the room without another look.

He looked at the glass scattered on the table.

He remembered a report from a mission, a boy who had survived four years in a water tank, and others who had not had the same luck. The organ vases and the scars of some experiment. The macabre laugh reminiscent of a snake and the obsession with immortality. Treason.

The room without sound. Emptiness, and visions of a past life.

It could be worse.

.

He moved from one side of the bed to the other, and each time he closed his eyes he saw a body in a puddle of blood. Gray hair stained red. A knife in his stomach. He could feel the heat from the body, but there was no pulse. Dead.

The rain grew stronger. The windows were shaking from the force of the wind.

He could not sleep.

It was not the first night that he had not been able to sleep. He took a deep breath. Someone was drugging him, playing with his mind. He knew the culprit. She had not made an obvious move, but the metallic smell she gave off was more obvious with time. Sometimes she would disappear from the mansion, as if she had never existed, could not locate her pulse at all. Reginald seemed not to suspect her.

He prepared his own meals, and she seemed unfazed, secretly happy to not have work. During dinner he waited for the others to take their first bite to see if there were any side effects.

None of the children were behaving in an unusual way, perhaps they had become more competitive and pettier, but that was for another reason. He knew the attack was only for him.

Maybe it was just his descent into madness. The chemistry in his brain was volatile, his powers fed off any reaction, any emotion. Like a parasite, crawling into his brain, growing stronger.

The lack of sleep was making him sick.

He closed his eyes again and focused on the soothing sound of the rain. He fell asleep, but a silent whimper from Four's room woke him up. He glanced to the left, his watch on the nightstand. He was able to sleep three hours, he realized, but it was not the time to get up yet. He clicked his tongue, annoyed, and pulled a pillow over his head to block Four's whimpering.

.

"Seven!" Five yelled after looking for his cereal box and seeing that it was in the trash can. He felt a sharp pain in his ears, he was not in the mood to deal with him. He heard the moment when he teleported in front of the couch where he was reading a mystery novel. He had decided to memorize the sound of Five's heart to know where he was and avoid being surprised if he decided to teleport unexpectedly.

“You ate all my cereal! And don’t try to deny it, I also know you lied to Two!” He raised his voice again, pursing his lips, mad. Of the seven Five was the one who preferred sugary food, had asked Reginald for the cereal box as a reward, it seemed. He did not appreciate his tone anyway, so he would not apologize. His head ached and his screams did not help.

“So what if I did,” he replied in a flat voice without bothering to look up from the book, provoking him more.

Five did not respond but tried to snatch the book from his hands. He saw it coming so he moved the book away from Five's reach, and with his right leg he pushed him hard causing him to stagger backwards. Five looked surprised for a moment, but then lunged towards him with angry resolution, still with the intention of taking his book from him, probably thinking of tearing the sheets out in from of his face.

He used his legs again to push him away, but Five moved out of the way to teleport to his left, an arrogant smile on his face. Without thinking he got up from the couch, forgetting the book, and tried to hit him several times but Five was teleporting away from him to avoid the blows.

“Guys come here! Five and Seven are fighting!” He heard Four from the entrance of the room, more amused than concerned. He used the distraction to move his leg behind Five's and with his arm pushed him back, causing Five to lose his balance and fall onto his back. He heard a hollow noise and a groan of pain, not feeling satisfied he rushed towards him, but was stopped by One who held him from behind. He did not hear him sneak behind him.

“Stop fighting. Dad’s going to be mad.”

He stopped moving his limbs trying to break free from One's hold. Of course, one of Reginald's rules was not to fight outside the gym since he did not want to pay for broken furniture.

“Whatever,” Five replied, and teleported out of the room.

“Five, come back! Clean up your mess,” One yelled, releasing him from his grip.

He looked at the state of the room, chairs out of place, broken dishes. Some pictures in the room were out of position.

"What happened?" Three asked who approached Four, missing the fight.

"Five and Seven fought," One replied instead scratching his temple. Three looked in his direction with an understanding smile.

"I don't blame you, Five has become unbearable lately."

He shrugged.

.

It was his turn to wash his hands, being the last. He had time to get to his designated chair and avoid the fury of Reginald, who was obsessed with punctuality. Still, something was always distracting him.

He was ten minutes late for dinner, the others quiet but looking at him with varying degrees of disapproval and shock.

“I see you have decided to grace us with your presence,” Reginald said annoyed.

“Sorry, I got lo-,” he started to say, words coming easily from his mouth. What was he going to say? he wondered.

“-I don’t care for your excuses, tomorrow you’ll have an extra lesson of etiquette with Mr. Pogo.” He heard the laughter of the others.

“Looks like your brothers are in need of lessons as well,” he commented casually. Sometimes, if one of them was punished then the others would receive the same treatment.

“But father I-,” One replied. He saw Three and Four open their mouths, thinking of some way to escape punishment.

“I heard Five and Seven got into a fight,” Six changed the subject abruptly, his way of getting out of the punishment. He looked at him in surprise, feeling oddly betrayed. Reginald raised an eyebrow.

“I wouldn't call that a fight,” Five snorted, offended.

"I heard she won," Two added stammering, sounding like an insult. Four was chuckling amused.

“That’s because I don’t hit little girls,” he defended himself. “And wouldn't you want to know why we fought?” he added, looking at Seven.

He sighed, it did not matter if he told Two, he could steal another weapon. Still.

“Do tell,” he stared back at him, daring him to say a word.

“Wait, what do you mean with little girls? I kicked your ass yesterday,” Three inserted, actually looked offended. He resonated with the feeling; disliking being reminded of his gender.

"Silence!"

The conversation ended.

Six's caretaker arrived with a cart with the warm food ready, he began to salivate at the smell of meat and fresh vegetables. She finished the preparations and smiled at them, a grimace that looked painful, the lines in her eyes more visible on her face, looking older.

He cut the meat with the knife and the fork clumsily, and took a bite of the juicy meat; the food was delicious. He ordered a double portion.

.

Kakashi walked down the hall and saw his reflection in one of the mirrors: dark circles and pale skin. He dropped his eyes to look at his feet and rubbed his right hand. He heard the laughter of Four and Two as they passed over the latter's room. It was a Sunday night, and wondered what exercise he would have tomorrow in his individual training, had been practicing Monday's exercise and eight times out of ten he failed.

He heard a sound in the direction of his room and ran towards it, hand in pocket. With the other one he opened the door and looked at his nanny suspiciously.

“What are you doing?” He watched her arrange one of her pillows, pretending to make the bed.

“What do you think? This place is a mess,” she replied, as if it were obvious. He crossed his arms and watched her, she did not seem to be carrying a weapon and her heart was pounding steadily.

He did not think she was doing something that could harm him, but the best killers were even better actors. The nanny raised her hands in exasperation.

“Look kid, just go to bed and get some sleep, you look like hell.”

Without further ado, she left the room.

He locked the door and sighed.

He was in the middle of the bed with the intention of meditate, wanting to have a blank mind and not have visions of more dead bodies. He was tired and his performance suffered, having more punishments than usual. Even the nanny seemed preoccupied with other matters, spending more time with the new gardener, a large man who gave off the same dangerous presence.

He heard the voice of his nanny outside the mansion and looked out the window watching her argue with the gardener. He concentrated on the voices.

“… She’s smart, I need to be cautious.”

“... Yeah, just try to be quiet about it ...”

“... In a few days ...”

He heard more words, but in another language he did not understand.

He saw that the nanny took out of her pocket a small orange bottle and handed it to the gardener. They exchanged more words, but finally said their goodbyes. He saw the nanny enter through the front door.

He moved his hand into his pocket, the weight of Two's knife comforting him.

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep.
> 
> When I write Kakashi, I’m thinking of his kid version, but with some PTSD and amnesia, add his new powers and Bam!, this happens. So yeah, it’s not fun for him.
> 
> On the other hand, I didn’t want him to just kill his nannies no matter how much he hates the taste of oatmeal (blame Canon!Vanya tastebuds!), that’s why I’m doing this Arc xP.
> 
> And yes, Five and Kakashi got some beef haha. Shouldn’t mess with each other’s stuff.
> 
> Hope you liked it, and thanks for reading me!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi investigates and Four tags along.

**Masks and Pills**

**Chapter 3**

**Arc I: The problem with nannies**

**Part II**

Reginald was writing in his journal and to his right a screen showed Number Seven sleeping deeply. The brain activity readings on the monitor told him she was in REM sleep. With annoyance he saw that he was losing signal from the monitor. Number Seven abilities were unstable even during sleep. She had learned to use her powers quickly, but the destruction they caused made him think. At her young age, she showed a damaged mind, detached from reality. Her abilities were affected by her useless emotions.

The development of the other children was slower, but it was a work in progress. He searched for the reports of each one of them. Number One was the most promising, had a useful power, and used his potential to be the best. He made a good choice. He skimmed the other reports and read the one about Number Seven several times.

The new nanny was helpful, efficient in her work. He hoped that she was the last one he had to hire, the constant change in personnel affecting Seven's progress. He thought of the previous one who had become attached to the girl, despite his clear instruction to avoid contact beyond what was necessary. A bright aspiring pediatrician with a promising future. She needed the job to pay for her education, she had told him.

It was a shame to find her dead in an alley, bled to death by a bullet in the chest. The culprit was not found, but he did not want to waste time.

He finished his observations on the children, and his eyes stayed on the bottom of the page.

_00.07 Dangerous abilities. Aloof but extremely paranoid, ruthless if provoked. Struggles with control._

He considered what he should do with her. Unlike the others, she did not seem to have an ambition to be extraordinary. She was aware of her flaws and he could make adjustments to her training. Still, her unstable mind was an obstacle to her usefulness. Her abilities were great, but they also posed a danger. He was unwilling to deal with her any longer. He knew what he had to do, but only if the situation warranted it.

He looked at the letter with a familiar wax seal that he had been ignoring for a while but decided to change that. He took a sharp knife and brought it to a candle flame. He read the contents of the letter and pursed his lips. He would have to make a decision later, there was another matter that needed his immediate attention.

.

Kakashi opened his eyes when he felt fingers touch his hair and a cold sensation in his temples, but closed them again falling asleep. He opened them again and saw his nanny with a machine in her hands.

He opened them once more, more awake, but his body was still numb. He put a hand on his eyes to block out the sunlight reflecting off the window. He had a strange dream and touched his temples, remembering the cold sensation but there was nothing.

"I see you are awake," he heard his nanny who was near the door. Alarms went off in his body, recalling the conversation he had overheard the night before. But a throbbing pain in his head made him close his eyes tightly, so he used his hand trying to soothe it, but it did not relieve anything. He could hear his stomach rumble full of acid, feeling the hunger. He slowly moved his other hand under the pillow, placing his fingers on the knife.

The nanny did not wait for an answer and left, so he was able to exhale all the air that had gotten stuck in his lungs. He looked at the clock, and it was too late for classes, but he could attend the last one. The nanny came back after a while, with a tray in her arms with plates of food, and without his permission she placed it on his lap. It was scrambled eggs, bacon, pieces of fruit, and a glass full of orange juice. He avoided looking at her, refusing to eat what she prepared.

“I am not playing this game with you again.” Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the nanny cross her arms as she leaned against the wall, waiting for him to eat.

It became a war of wills. But if he had his doubts before, now he was surer that he could not trust her.

“The food doesn't have any poisons or drugs, if you're wondering,” she commented casually, looking at her nails.

"What do you mean?" He feigned ignorance.

“Don't play dumb with me, I know your type. Which is surprising, really.” He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't know who or what she was referring to.

“Who you are?” He asked wearily and heard a small humorless laugh.

“I'm your nanny,” she replied, but that did not say anything, so he raised an eyebrow, evaluating her. She seemed to lose patience, reaching for her fringe.

“I would eat if I were you, you never know when it's going to be your last meal.” With those words she left the room, and he widened his eyes. An obvious threat. He took a deep breath, and the smell reached his nose, he could almost taste the food. It was still hot, and he felt the emptiness of his stomach, so he made a decision.

He went to the bathroom that was directly across his room and started filling the tub with hot water. The nanny had at least respected his decision of not needing assistance.

.

He walked toward the training building with slow steps, not enthusiastic about having math class. When he arrived, he knocked on the door twice and waited for Pogo's response.

Pogo opened the door and looked at him in surprise.

“Go to your seat, Miss Seven.” He walked in the direction of his desk, a backpack on one hand, and noticed that the room fell silent.

“Where were you, Seven?” Three asked, stopping writing in her notebook.

“Here and there,” he replied absently, and she shook her head several times.

“She missed all classes today,” Two whispered to Four, who was behind him, with his trademark stutter.

“You are going to be punished.” One told him and he shrugged. He knew it, but one more punishment or scolding would not make a difference.

“Children,” Pogo raised his voice. “Who wants to solve the first exercise?” The eyes left him, and the attention returned to the class. He reached his seat and saw Six smile shyly at him and just nodded in his direction. He took out the notebook and some pens and saw Three and Five's arm in the air.

“Mr. Five, go ahead.”

He began to write the problems on the notebook and realized that they were not difficult, solving them easily.

“I can solve the other exercises as well,” Five said after writing down the answer and heard Two and Three snort in annoyance.

“That won't be necessary, Mister Five,” Pogo replied and nodded at Five to take a seat.

“Does anyone of you have any questions about the first exercise?”

“I do!” Four exclaimed, which did not surprise anyone. He was the one who took everything like a game.

“There's no need to yell, Mr. Four. I can hear you clearly.”

Someone knocked on the door and one of the nannies walked into the classroom, gesturing for Pogo to come closer. He paid no attention to the conversation, more focused on the exercises.

“Psst,” Six distracted him, but he stopped writing, waiting for him to continue.

“Do you have the third exercise?” He looked at his notebook and saw that he did.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Can you explain it to me, please.”

He was interrupted by Pogo who entered the room again.

“Children, the lesson is over for today, Mr. Reginald awaits you in his study.”

“I race you,” Four challenged in a yell and ran out of the room.

“F-four, y-you a-are on,” Two yelled, following him.

“Guys, wait for me!” Said Six.

He put his things in his backpack and carried it over his shoulder.

“Seven, let's go.” Three walked towards him and took his hand. He wanted to push her away, but thought twice, she could use her powers to manipulate him or take revenge later. He preferred not to have her as an enemy, knowing how she would get. She always wanted others to do what she ordered and got it most of the time. He wondered if her personality was because of or despite her powers in some way, had observed that she had the intelligence to get what she wanted from others, even when they were younger.

Crying or throwing temper tantrums, she was a pain as a toddler. And now with her powers she was a menace.

Three's attempts to get closer to him began when Two and Four made her cry by pushing her into the mud after a fight. Her nanny, who was an elderly lady, almost had an attack when she saw her covered from head to toe in mud, and after dinner she sat all of them down in the floor.

He remembered and winced.

"Boys, what you did to your sister is unforgivable," she started her sermon. Three, who was next to him looked like she was about to laugh but covered her mouth with one hand. One, Five and Six seemed to want to say something, having nothing to do with what happened.

“Hush, boys,” she said when she saw that they wanted to protest. “Your sisters are different from you, more sensitive, so stop the rough play with them. They are like little flowers.” The blank look on the nanny's face was almost disturbing, but he could not help but widen his eyes in disbelief. Three crossed her arms looking in another direction.

"M-more l-like l-little m-monsters," whispered Two to Four who laughed. Six beside them had a hand on his chin, trying to figure out what she meant. One straightened his back while nodding his head. Five was looking at Three and at him with an ugly smile on his face.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw that they had reached Reginald's study.

“The children are here, Mr. Reginald,” Pogo said when he slid the door of the office. The seven of them waited for Reginald, who did not stop writing. More seconds passed and he looked up at them.

“Children, your individual and physical training is canceled for a few days, as I'll not be here to supervise it. Except yours Four, you do not need my presence at all,” he explained, looking at them sternly. Four gasped for breath.

“For a few days? But father-,” One protested, distressed, hut he was not the only one who looked like him.

“Don’t call me that.”

“-Sir, my, our birthday is in two days.” One had wet eyes. He felt Three squeeze his hand.

“It is of no matter; you should focus on your studies Number One.”

“Yes sir.” His voice lost its determination and he was now looking at his feet. 

“I forbid you to experiment with your abilities,” he told them, but his gaze was directed at Five. “In my absence, you will have to read and memorize this book.”

He opened his desk drawer and grabbed a book. He looked at its cover with interest and realized it was in another language that they had studied in Pogo's lessons. Still, it seemed like a pointless task.

“You are dismissed.” He was about to leave but Reginald's voice stopped him.

“Number Seven, stay.”

The children looked at each other and started whispering, but they left the room hearing Reginald discontent voice. He waited for Reginald to speak, but saw him writing again, angry wrist moves with his pen. He inhaled deeply, put his hands behind his back and noticed that he was sweating. He looked at the pictures of monkeys hanging on the wall, feeling familiarity.

“You slept all afternoon and missed Pogo’s lessons. Not only that, your grades are dropping, and you are never on time for training nor dinner, you got into a fight outside of training rooms. Tell me Number Seven, what do you think you are doing?” His voice increased in volume and he felt weak on his legs.

“I-,” he did not know what to say, so he closed his mouth, was not expecting this. Reginald was staring at him. Waiting for him to say something with a stern expression, but he remained silent.

“I have decided that your individual training is over,” he finally said, closing his journal.

“What?! But sir, it’s just-,” but Reginald stopped him with a dismissive hand. He froze, could not stop training, his control was disastrous.

“Excuses again? Number Seven, it is time for you to take responsibility.”

“I’ll be better, sir.” Reginald looked at him with a calculating gaze, searching for a sign of deception.

“Number Seven you are dismissed.”

.

He stayed in the room thinking about Reginald’s words, who left the house after a few minutes, it seemed urgent. He wondered what he would do if his training ended. He had not improved much, on the contrary, but knew that using his powers would cause more destruction, and that was the real problem. Reginald's disapproving eyes left him cold, and he felt like a failure, the scene playing repeatedly.

He did not know if he should have told him about the nanny, but shook his head, he would not believe him.

Maybe he was making things up and everything was just a product of an active imagination of a sleep deprived child.

The morning lessons of the next day had not been canceled, to his bad luck, but this time he made it to class on time, ignoring his tiredness. He had seen everyone avoid his gaze, aware that he had been scolded. The nanny had made him breakfast and this time he did not even think about it and eat it all.

After class he took a bath, mind blank. He went to the kitchen where he saw Six and his nanny talking animatedly about cake and dinner.

“Seven, guess what?!” Six shouted as he watched him enter the kitchen, crinkling his eyes.

“Six,” the nanny scolded him lightly. “Don’t say anything, it’s a surprise.” She put her index finger on her lips that had been stretched to show her white teeth. Six laughed delightedly, no longer upset about Reginald’s absence.

“Sorry Seven,” he said imitating her gesture.

He ignored them and walked to the refrigerator, looking for something to eat. He made some eggs, which was the simplest and easiest thing to do, under the watchful eyes of Six and his nanny. He took a seat at the table, ignoring their murmurs.

“Here sweetie,” the nanny approached him and put a glass of milk in front of his food. It was not the best combination, but he was hungry.

He finished eating and went to his room. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, concentrating on the sound, searching for the steady heartbeat of his nanny. But he did not find it, instead he heard Pogo's footsteps, and the sound of keys moving against another. The voice of One and Three, and near them Two stammering a word. He heard a muffled cry. He concentrated beyond the house and heard walking at different paces. No sign of his nanny.

He looked at the clock and realized it was the time when the nannies had their break.

An idea occurred to him. He took Two's knife and from his drawer grabbed hair pins.

It was time to investigate, to know if it was his imagination or something else because doubting his mind made him feel restless.

He left the room and walked with a direction on mind, he licked his lips and the wind messing his hair gave him purpose. He walked in silent steps and with hands in pockets, avoiding everyone. He reached the area furthest from the house, and heard a pulse, but it was not the one he was looking for.

It was Four’s.

He was wiping the tears with one of his hands with a bowed head and a quivering lip. It was a pitiful sight and it irked him, remembering that it was Four who interrupted his sleep time several times.

“Oh, Seven, it's you,” Four blurted, looking surprised by his presence, then wiped his eyes and nose hard and straightened his shoulders. Seven crossed his arms, not falling for his act.

“Something got into my eyes," Four explained breaking the silence, fidgeting. 

That angered him for some reason and the wind rumbled off the windows that were near them. Did not want to be near him at all.

“I don't care.” He decided to continue his way. “Crybaby.” 

“I’m not a baby!” Four gawked and followed him when he received no answer. “And I wasn’t crying,” he denied when he reached Seven's side.

“Don’t follow me.” He arrived at the most secluded area, small rooms where the nannies and other workers could sleep. Each of them was assigned a room. He knew that because his former nanny told him, had visited the place a few times, being invited by her to play cards and other children's games that he thought were a waste of time but could not refuse.

He looked in various directions, widening the range of his hearing. He concentrated and did not hear anyone near. He went through the doors that had a rectangular plaque on them, but his nanny's name was not there.

“What are you doing?” Four asked in a whisper, looking around nervously. He did not answer him, still mad.

He reached the last room and saw a name he did not recognize.

“Do you recognize this name?” he asked Four, who jumped when he heard his voice. Seven rolled his eyes.

Four walked near the door and read the written name. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head, making noises with his throat.

“Well?” he asked when Four did not say anything.

“I think it's the name of Six's old nanny,” Four replied, looking doubtful. He sighed and put a hand to his hair, that was better than nothing, he thought. He recognized all the names, so he concluded that this room could belong to the gardener or his nanny. There was only one way to find out. He moved his hand to the knob, but it was locked. From his pocket he took out a few hairpins and went to the doorknob.

Four, curious, approached him to see what he was doing.

“You can do that?!” He yelled in his ear and from the pain he lost concentration, breaking one of the pins in the process. Annoyed, he hit him on the arm. But Four just laughed, rubbing his arm.

“Number Seven you are so mean,” he whined.

“Don’t talk,” he growled. He did not hear an answer, but he felt Four close to him. He was about to snap at him again, but Four raised his hands, understanding the warning. He concentrated on the task and heard a click.

He walked into the room and smelled metallic. He gestured at Four with his right hand and scanned the room. An unmade bed in the corner, crumpled sheets, and next to it a nightstand. He walked over and saw different food stamps. He opened the drawer and saw some medicine for pain, more trash, and a wallet. He did not find the orange bottle.

He inspected the wallet and saw that it was full. There was no identification or any information that could be useful to him.

"Is that money?" Four asked in a low voice. He looked at him incredulously twisting his mouth.

"I told you to guard the door," he scolded, but Four just got on the bed and started jumping.

"You didn’t, you just did some weird thing with your hand," he said, imitating his signal incorrectly. He sighed, but it did not matter, he could hear if someone were near. He focused on the wallet and saw the size of the bundle, it was a lot of money, so he took two of them, twenty dollars in total. They were not going to miss them.

"You can't do that, Seven, you'll get in trouble," Four looked worried, stopping jumping. He inspected the bed, pushing Four out of the way.

“Seven, we should leave.”

There was nothing out of place.

He reached down to look under the bed and found a black briefcase with a note on it and a picture of a man.

_Target: Joseph Wells, 30/09/1991 -5 P.M. Griddy's Doughnuts._

He read the note, but he did not know the name, and the date had to be wrong, because it was 1995. He did not recognize the location either. He focused on the briefcase, thinking that maybe there woul be more clues. He searched for a way to open it and-

“What does it say?” Four asked him, glancing at the note.

“Noth-,” he was about to reply, but heard several people approach. The nannies. He tensed and put a hand on Four's mouth. If they left the room they could be seen, and he was curious.

"Hide under the bed, someone is near," he told him and Four nodded, widening his eyes, scared. He closed the door as quietly as possible and arranged things as they were before they entered. He crawled under the bed and saw Four who was closing his eyes tightly.

He turned his head to the side, his ear making direct contact with the ground, and focused on the sound. The nannies talking about mundane things, and their birthday. Nothing out of the ordinary. The gardener's pulse was close, silent steps. He turned to see Four and placed a hand over his mouth, just in case. He heard him open the door, and could see his legs, the same ragged pants, and muddy boots.

He felt the mattress sag and looked at Four in warning, his pulse erratic.

He did not do anything that was suspicious, nor say something. They waited more minutes, and Four still was scared. He put his hand on his pocket, but if things escalated, he would use his powers.

He saw the gardener's hand reaching for the briefcase and was grateful to leave it in plain sight, but felt his own erratic heartbeat wondering if he could notice something was wrong. He heard him sigh tiredly and throw the note that was now wrinkled in a ball across the room. He did not.

The man got out of bed and left the room.

“I need a raise,” he heard him say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I made Reginald tell them to call him father in chapter 1, I changed that.  
> Also, their house is confusing, had to investigate it.
> 
> I hope you liked it,  
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trouble begins.

**Masks and Pills**

**Chapter 4**

**Arc I: The problem with nannies**

**Part III**

Kakashi sighed when the man closed the door, got out the bed and dusted his uniform down. Four wore a puzzled expression on his face but decided to keep him in the dark. He rubbed his chin, there was a picture of a man and a wrong date. A target to the gardener. Or maybe it was a code, a message between him and the nanny, or maybe to a third party.

With those facts, Seven could say that he was dealing with a mercenary or even a spy. An assassin. It made sense in a way, seeing that he was an ally to his nanny.

They both were dangerous, and he was right. That rotten smell of blood was difficult to ignore.

The man took the black briefcase with him, maybe it had some kind of weapon inside.

Seven was not sure if Reginald was aware of their true nature or not, but he should find some proof and give it to him, maybe this time the old man would get rid of his nanny for once and for all. He did not need one.

He also could be the mastermind of a convoluted test that only made sense to him.

Kakashi never understood the mystery that was The Monocle.

Discarding that possibility would be unwise. Hargreeves was a smart man of unclear intentions and warnings of imminent destruction of the world. He reminded him of a man with a cane and a bandaged face lurking in the shadows.

“Seven, what is going on?” Four's voice shattered the silence of the small room. With a hand through his hair, he wondered again if Four should be aware of these people. He was a playful kid, fearful, could not keep a secret. Like Seven and Six, he performed badly at physical training, but unlike them his grades were also bad. His powers could be useful, but he never boasted about them and Seven was sure it was not because of a hidden humility trait. That could mean a lot of things.

In that aspect Four was like him.

“I heard him say something about our birthday, but it seems it was nothing.” The lie rolled out of his tongue easily, mouth twisted in an unnatural smile and closed eyes.

Four narrowed his eyes slightly, contemplating the words for a moment but then shrugged them off without a comment.

That was alarming, in tense moments he never shut up.

Walking to the house was a silent matter but he focused his attention to the soundwaves coming from the building. Not all of the nannies were there, as the others were still in their small rooms. Normal breathings and hushed voices, still planning some surprise birthday party for them despite Reginald’s orders. He did not like them to waste time on frivolous things, and for that, getting toys or snacks was a difficult task, they had to please him with their performance in classes or individual training.

Only the favored children seemed to do that.

The bare walls of his room were proof of that, but he did not need toys. Books were okay for him and even without them Pogo was there as a rich source of knowledge, just as one hatted old man of his fragmented memory.

He went to the stairs avoiding making any sound and heard Six's voice, still with one of them it seems. The other children were getting their extra classes: physics, shooting, he did not know.

Four was behind him, probably thinking on going to his own room that was right away his. Seven gave him a lazy wave with half lidded eyes and closed the door, waiting. He gazed at the clock, there were two hours left to catch the gardener.

Carefully, he opened the door and got out to the third floor of the house in measured steps with Five's room as a destination. Luckily, he was in classes so Seven would not have to deal with him.

The door was locked.

Using the hair pin, he opened the door with a focused mind, almost missing Four's figure standing right next to him.

He did a double take.

“I told you to stop following me.”

Four stroked his imaginary beard. “No, you didn’t.”

He sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. “Four, just go away. Six’s in the kitchen, go play with your friend and leave me alone.”

“But-” Seven’s narrowing eyes made him stop. “I’m bored.” He ended lamely.

The boy was quite stubborn.

Seven decided to change that.

“You know, Five could do something to you if he knew you are here. That painting stuff you got from Three? You won’t see it again, or maybe you’ll find it in your clothes or notebooks…” He mussed with a shake of his head and waited for Four’s reaction. The boy widened his eyes.

“I don’t think so. Five is my friend…I guess, he would not mind _me_ being here… in his room.” The uneasy smile, fidgeting hands and high tones of his voice amused Seven.

In that regard, Four was not wrong in being wary of the other boy.

Five was a prideful terror that never got tired of hearing the sound of his voice.

Naturally, he rubbed everyone the wrong way.

He remembered an argument between Two and Five when the former challenged the latter in a spar. Five used his abilities to win and Two was not happy about it, saying that he was cheating and could not defeat him otherwise. Days passed and Five, feeling wronged, pranked Two and he in retaliation set Five's notebook on fire, the one he used for his individual training.

The fight lasted for a week and it involved nasty words and angry tears. It ended, somehow, with Two, Five and One -who joined the fight after annoying the two boys- in the floor and Three encouraging them from afar to avoid a fist in her face. Seven decided to join her in a twisted and probably sadistic form of camaraderie.

Six, who had a dislike for violence, wanted to stop them by joining the fight. The last thing he remembers is the sight of blood in the boy's stomach and a weird, alien sound.

Rivalries were such a complex matter.

Four was not there to watch the fight.

After that, Five got even more protective of his things, even made a warning to all of them.

“He doesn’t have to know,” Seven conceded.

Four nodded. “Yeah, Five scares me a little bit.”

He looked at one of the walls and Four did the same, there were some written equations in white chalk. A back-up of sorts in case someone decided to mess with his notebook as Two did. Seven was not sure what Five would do against them if he knew they were here, because it was a mystery what he did to Two and cause such a reaction.

But it would not matter because he was already in Five's blacklist. He ate all of his cereal after all, and thinking about it, his favorite book, the one his former nanny gave him, was still missing.

It would be foolish of Five to test Kakashi any further. 

He eyed Four who was a nervous wreck and hided in jokes and easy smiles. But-

“Wait, how did you know?” Seven asked instead, puzzled.

“About you lying?” Four asked to be sure and Kakashi only nodded.

“It was easy, you act different when you lie, your face… is weird,” Four answered with a tilted head and a frowned face, seeming to recreate the image of Seven's facial expressions in his mind but could not get the correct words. “And… you acted strange, in that guy's room. That’s why I decided to follow you,” he finished, looking down at his feet. Kakashi hummed, almost impressed.

“How observant of you,” he praised with a small nod despite the obvious insult and broken sentences, thinking Four was not a lost cause after all. Four beamed but there was an awkward pause in which they just stared at each other.

“Six told me how to tell if you are lying,” Four admitted almost guiltily. Kakashi sighed and looked away from him, scratching the back of his head. There was an unsettling feeling in his stomach at the thought of being analyzed by one of them without his notice or being that obvious, but shrugged it off, there were more pressing matters. His eyes rested on the left window and walked towards it, looking for a way to open it.

“So, why are we here? Are we going to prank Five? Or-”

“We?” Seven snorted but gazed at Four in a contemplative way, after a while he sighed.

“Remember the note?” An enthusiastic nod was the answer. “There was a location that I think is in this…city. I want to go there, and the only way out is in this room,” he gestured at Four to look at the window. “See? There is a fire escape. Do you understand?” They boy snickered with a mischievous light in his eyes, realizing the plan.

“Alright, but we should tell Two and Six, and maybe even stupid One. Three would want to join us too. And this is Five's room so he should know-,” a hand stopped his rambling.

“It’s a bad idea to tell them and we don’t have time for that. Besides, if the two of us disappear for a couple of hours no one will notice.” That blunt words seemed to upset Four who nodded again, more subdued. Kakashi focused on the locked window, feeling the size of the hair pin on his palm, and realized it could not be used against the screws. He turned to Four.

“Hey,” Kakashi called him but there was no reply. “Hey!” He tried again and with a snap of his fingers Four reacted.

“I have an idea, try to whistle near the screws.” Four frowned but did as instructed. With a controlled move of his wrist the high tone of the sound was converted into energy, shattering the screws.

“That’s a cool trick, Seven!” He nodded at that, looking at the cracked window but pleased of not doing more damage.

The screws were removed, and the window was finally open. With a careful twist of his body he landed on the stairs, testing its stability. Looking up, he noticed with disapproval that Four was still in the room.

“It’s okay If you don’t want to go with me, I’ll come back in a few hours. Distract the nannies or something.” He went near the railing, looking for a way to land safely.

“What?! No, I want to go too, I….” Kakashi hummed without paying attention, instead gazed at the box of trash that could be used to cushion his fall. His current height was a problem and realization hit him; he would need Four’s help to climb back to the room.

“Come on, I’ll help you.” Kakashi extended a hand to a hesitant Four and after struggling with his clumsy feet he landed in the stairs next to him. Moments like these made him miss the chakra that was everywhere in a world where jumping as high as One, without breaking bones, was a task that even a toddler could do; where climbing any surface without hands was as easy as breathing. Now, looking down to the ground made him realize the dangers of a sole misstep.

Four pounding heart told him that he was thinking almost the same thing.

They went to the last step were the stairs ended, for a moment doubting if it was a good idea to search for an unknown place, when even getting to the ground was a difficult task. But the need to resolve a mystery was greater than his doubt.

With deep breaths he looked at the black plastic bags of trash and without another thought jumped. In slow motion and by a dumb mistake he noticed that his face would crash against one of the sides of the trash box. He put his arms forward as if the action would stop the impact. His eardrums vibrated as Four worded a warning, but the pain never came.

It never came because-

“Seven, you are flying!” Not exactly flying, but the boy’s happy voice was contagious. He turned at him with a grin in his face and Four gaped, making him fall in the trash at the loss of concentration.

“Ow.”

Four lost all of his hesitation because in a moment he jumped as well. “Seven, catch me!”

“Wait, no!” He did not register Seven’s words and in an instant the weight of Four’s body almost crushed him.

Four laughed in a carefree manner, the light sound contrasting with his low growl. That was dangerous.

“Sorry but you should have seen your face,” he imitated his face in a silly way that almost made him echo the laugh, instead he smacked him in the head.

Four winced. “Rude.”

“Let’s get out of here.” With a twist of his body he got out of the trash box and waited for him.

“You are no fun,” Four whined but copied him. “I didn’t know you could fly tough. I’m jealous.”

He half shrugged trying to calm his excited heart; somehow, the pained sound of Four’s voice was used as energy to suspend his body in the air, as if his abilities had a mind of its own. In a way they did, the nights where he could not sleep were proof of that.

These powers at times were almost limitless, if only he could control them.

Seven noticed the people walking in long strides on the sidewalk and gulped drily. For the first time in their lives they stepped outside of the house. In history class Pogo would sometimes talk about the technological advances that were invented because of war times, and the amazement in his eyes could not be faked when the Chimp explained everything when he formulated a question, wanting to know everything about this world.

They left the alley and Four looked like he wanted to bounce in his feet with his wide doe eyes. Seven paused to capture the moment and in the distance heard the chatty voices of old ladies. To his left children and parents were holding hands as happy vendors were selling their goods. He felt a fresh breeze of the last day of September messing up his hair.

It was a quite the sight that was both familiar and foreign.

They paused as the pictures from Pogo’s class took form before their eyes as cars traveled near them. He hummed; humans were ingenious when they did not have the ability to travel faster.

He almost forgot why they were here in the first place.

“Seven, this is really cool!” He was about to agree but the note of that _gardener_ flashed in his mind as a reminder. He took Four’s hand in case he decided to run away from him and gazed at him.

“Don’t forget about the mission,” he said gravely, they were not here to behave like tourists.

“Mission?” He totally forgot and Kakashi rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, your _mission_. Don’t worry Seven, we got this, like Batman and Robin! ...Err Batgirl.”

“Right.” Seven started to notice the weird looks of the people around them. He dragged Four to get away from them. He sensed Four questioning face but gave him a sharp look to shut up.

He wondered if the nannies were searching for them, or if Reginald, far from home, already knew.

They went to another alley and hide behind the bins of trash.

“Why are we hiding?” Four asked in a hushed tone.

“For some reason we are attracting unwanted attention-,” he said with a furrowed brow and paused when Four made a sound with his tongue.

“Because we are kids,” he explained.

Seven crossed his arms, not getting it. “And?”

“Well, it’s weird to see kids without their parents or with an adult. It means that we are lost or something. Sometimes the police would handle a case, like, when a kid gets...” With each word Four seemed to lose courage. “Uh, I think this is a bad idea, let’s go back.”

Seven grabbed Four’s blazer before he got a chance to run.

That made sense, in their eyes they were civilian kids. Vulnerable in a way, a target. The mission was getting complicated.

“We can’t go back, Four.” The boy gulped but sat down again. “I have an hour and a half to find the place,” he mused, focusing on the voice of the people and wait for someone to give him a clue.

“What is the name of the place?” Four asked after calming down and seeming to accept the course of action.

“Griddy’s Doughnuts,” he answered distractedly.

“Sounds delicious.”

He gave up on the task after some minutes passed, no one talked about donuts or said the word Griddy. At his right, the boy was drumming his fingers and making annoying noises.

“This is useless, let’s go ask for directions.” Seven said to Four who stopped his antics and gave a thumbs up. They got up and walked near the sidewalk again, it would be unwise to ask to the wrong person, not knowing how they would react. Maybe they would not care at all and he was overreacting.

“If we are going to do this then we should explore the city afterwards.” Seven was about to retort but Four’s wagging finger and sudden burst of confidence stopped him. “You help me, and I help you. We are a team, right? That’s how it works.”

He slapped the finger away. “I don’t really need your help.” Kakashi ignored the rhetorical question.

“Are you sure?” He wiggled his eyebrows with unreadable eyes. “I’m pretty sure you’ll need my help to climb back to Five’s room.” He paused and added for good measure. “Shorty.”

Seven huffed, he was not wrong but Four always managed to irritate him. “As if your noodle arms would be of any help.” That seemed to offend him. Good.

“Hey! I’m a growing boy and yours are not any better. You are just jealous because I’ll get taller and taller and you’ll stay a midget forever!”

Seven snorted. Four was such a roller coaster of a boy.

“Okay,” he finally said.

“Okay?” Four parroted.

“We find the place then we explore the city a little bit. Now, let’s not waste more time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I read that Four was a “vulnerable and sweet” child; Fearful, according to Reginald. I think he was regarded as a failure since he was a child, so i guess he also has some confidence issues.  
> Reginald’s experiments messed up his personality, turned him cruel in Vanya’s words. In the show/comics he does not cope well with his powers and started to consume drugs at a young age -13 I think-.  
> He kind of reminds me of Obito, Kakashi’s former best friend who was a good kid but turned evil.  
> Vanya in the show shares similarities with Four: They both were locked up, used drugs for their powers and were disregarded by their family.  
> They get to bond first :)  
> -Seven doesn’t get Reginald because he is an alien.  
> -Reginald wants to prevent the end of the world but doesn’t use pretty words nor "will of fire" to gain the loyalty of the kids. In a sense he is like Danzo, more interested in his own power than being altruistic.  
> -I think The Umbrella Academy kids are like Team Seven, if Team Seven never got the chance to grow and develop, and some of them didn’t :(  
> I mean we got the arrogant, the reckless, the shallow, the ruthless leader, the gentle, the "changed", and Kakashi...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unhinged Kakashi and an angry Four make a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit late, but oh well, here’s the new chapter :P. Anyways, thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy!

**Masks and Pills**

**Chapter 5**

**Arc I: The problem with nannies**

**Part IV**

Kakashi looked at both directions, unsure of which turn to take. Eyes were lurking on them; some were curious, and others were filled with indifference after a quick scan on their small forms. Four tugging at the sleeve of his blazer distracted him.

“Seven, the police is right there,” Four whispered in a worried tone, pointing at men in uniform. Kakashi nodded and signed to walk to the left. They needed to avoid being spotted by them at all costs. Kakashi was scanning and memorizing the street to avoid getting lost once they returned home but the crowd of tall figures made it difficult for them to have a good grasp of their surroundings. The voices of people entering his eardrums without his consent was making him uneasy.

The city was losing his charm.

“Four, take my hand.” He extended his arm, and the boy took it in a strong grip. At least he could concentrate on the boy’s heartbeats while looking for that place.

“Seven, do you know where to go?” He asked with wide eyes of fear.

“Yes,” he lied. It would not be good to startle him. He looked for adults to ask for directions, but doing it in the open where other people watched them was a bad idea. A vendor would be an ideal choice, if they bought something from them, they could not refuse.

Seven quickened his steps but a tug in his arm stopped him.

“What is it?” Kakashi asked but Four paid no attention because he was looking at something in a storefront window. He silently walked to look at what distracted the boy. A TV that resembled a microwave. Seven’s hand, locked in a strong grip that was the boy’s hand, was swinging up and down because Four started to jump like the kid he was.

“Four, c’mon,” Seven tried to drag him but his weak arms made it impossible. Four was stubbornly planted, eyes plastered to the window.

“They are playing a ball game, so cool,” he said in awe and Seven sighed, it was a pointless game.

“Stop being a child,” he hissed. “You said you would help me first.”

“But Seven… Fine.”

They walked for more minutes and Kakashi looked up at the sky with a frown on his face, a storm was forming, the dark greyish clouds from afar were enough warning of an imminent rain. They needed to reach that place as soon as possible.

He flickered his eyes to a sulking Four. Is that how real children behaved? Maybe it was just Four. Seven didn’t think One would act like this.

Kakashi wondered if he was a child as well. Most likely not. He’s been aware of his surroundings since he was a baby in a way no normal child should.

Places and people he remembers but does not know plagued his mind.

An aftereffect of drugs or something withing him, of his own nature.

It was possible these powers were the ones that created the delusion as a means to break free. After all, his abilities, and the children’s made no sense to him. Their own conception did not. One asked one day if they were a family -like in the book he used to carry around the house, the only thing he did not break, instead treat it with something akin to cherishment- Reginald told them they did not shared the same mother and he was not their father, because they did not have one at all.

Then explained to them all about it.

It was disconcerting to Seven and heart wrenching to the children who hoped they were a big family, had parents.

The others cried for hours; tears did not stop leaking because the nannies were just blurred figures behind an imposing Reginald.

_“Don’t console them.”_

_“But sir-”_

_“In grief they’ll find strength, a lesson they have to learn on their own.”_

A shinobi is one who endures.

And then a painful pulsation in his left eye and tears that felt like blood, soon he joined the children in their grief.

Something shifted in all of them, a small shadow lurking in their faces that only grew as time passed. One destroyed his book with his bare hands and decided to call Reginald his father.

The others followed his example.

Not him.

Because the only thing that felt _real_ and _his_ was his own name.

Not Seven.

_Kakashi._

But he preferred to avoid thinking about what it meant because it always put him in a foul mood. Distorted voices sang to him when he did that, and they did not stop once they started, like a broken record.

They just said one thing.

Friend Killer Kakashi.

He was unfocused.

Seven blinked several times. This unknow place was getting on his nerves.

With a hand in pocket he felt the familiar weight of the stolen knife.

It was a small thing, but it was okay. Not perfect. A little off, he would have preferred the knife pointier, like the shape of a leaf.

Easier to throw.

At least, it would be easier. He was quite weak in the arms and wrists, and knives looked deceptively light.

He focused in his auditive sense, letting the sound waves be processed by his brain until he snapped at the right. A high voice that could only belong to a child was talking about that place.

He started running towards the voice.

_“Dad, I want some donuts, let’s go to Griddy’s, please, please?”_

“Seven, my hand!” Four whined in that streaking tone that annoyed him to no end.

“Quiet.”

Ahead of them was a crossroad and he wondered why the people stopped but he was on a hurry.

“Wait!” The warning voice did was not registered because the child’s voice was the only thing in his mind. The sound of brakes and squeal of tires against the pavement and Four’s gasping made him stop, a vehicle was in front of them all of the sudden.

Caught, like a rookie against his first enemy.

_Stupid._

Adrenaline was running through his veins and their rapid heartbeats were ringing in his ears.

“Children, that was very stupid of you! Didn’t your parents tell you to watch on both directions before crossing? I can’t believe this.”

He babbled a silent sorry and bowed a little, the woman was thunderstruck, equally distressed. The murmurs of the people around them grew to become alarmed voices. They noticed something was wrong.

So much for not attracting attention.

“Seven, I’m scared.”

“Just walk faster,” he whispered to Four who nodded, searching for his hand.

They ran pushing through the unaware adults. They shouted after them, but he ignored them. They ran for minutes, sweat was dripping from forehead to neck. Painting and getting tired, they stopped to catch their breaths. Seven was hungry, had noticed the emptiness of the stomach and was sure Four was too. They slowed down, too tired to even talk. The kid he heard from before was nowhere to be seen but his voice was near.

They got near a truck were a man was selling ice-cream, Seven saw some colorful drawings in that truck, used to lure children to bought it. He had not eaten something like that, not that he remembers, but he could almost taste it. The man could be useful, and them being around other children would stop the adults for noticing something was wrong. Looking at the kids wearing civilian clothes made him wonder if their uniforms attracted even more attention.

“Let’s get ice cream,” Kakashi told Four who was catching his breath.

“Ice cream?”

“Yeah, I think you’ll like it,” he said sincerely. The children and adults were talking, and he absorbed the information just to know what they were like, what made them different from them. So far it was just nonsense chattering; some of them talked about their jobs, family, getting late to their work, some others were flirting.

Civilian life.

“Seven, Seven, Seven!” Four tried to draw his attention.

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Ah. Eavesdropping,” Seven whispered in his ear. Four shaped his lips in an 'O' form. Although Seven didn’t need to do that because his range at the moment was about five hundred meters. It would only grow as years passed, both a terrifying and amazing thing because it was a wonder how that worked, how his brain could process that.

They could look like humans, but they were not. Not really.

Not like the other people.

In biology class Pogo told him blind people could heighten their senses because the loss of vision left the brain with more capacity to process more information.

But if the situation were reversed, like his own, the other senses should be affected because the brain would overload of information, always stimulated and alert, no matter how much Kakashi tried to meditate.

The other four basic senses were okay.

Interesting brain he had.

Except, it really wasn’t.

Maybe it already shut down and Kakashi was the result.

“Four, you should try it. Eavesdropping,” he turned to the boy who was making faces to a smiling baby in front of them.

“Why would I want to do that?” The boy stopped his antics and crossed his arms.

“To gather information. It’s a skill for when you are in an undercover mission and…” he shrugged, trailing off his thoughts. Four looked unconvinced.

“Sounds boring, you’re so weird,” Four turned his attention to the baby, a more interesting company to the boy, it seemed.

There were days in which he could not even sleep because every sound was overwhelming. He would be on his bed with alert eyes and tension in his body, flinching and waiting for an attack that never came because even if the origin of the sound was a hundred meters away from him, Kakashi could heard it with such clarity his instincts told him to stay alert.

Today was like those days.

A conversation interested him.

“Dad, where are we going now?”

“Today’s your birthday so is your call. Where do you want to go?”

“To the park!”

The man laughed. “Good choice.” The man carried the child in a piggyback hold. Seven stared at them, feeling a tug in his chest that he recognized as envy.

He stumbled forward at a foreign weight in his back, but Seven did not have to turn to know it was Four’s.

“What is it?” He got off his embrace by pushing him as a form of retaliation.

“It’s almost our turn.” Kakashi looked ahead, a couple of children and their parents were in front of them. A child passed in front of them with a cone in hand.

“True.”

“You seem quieter the usual, are you thinking about flowers? Butterflies? Our birthday?” Kakashi put a hand in Four’s mouth to stop his blabbering. Without a doubt, the only thing that could worsen his headache was his stupid voice. Four licked Seven’s hand.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.” Kakashi used his skirt to clean that disgusting hand. Four snickered with playful eyes.

“Don’t put your hand in my mouth then, it’s rude. You’re rude.”

He rolled his eyes, remembering that the clock was ticking, and he only had an hour to get there.

“I want to eat all the ice cream,” Four raised his arms to emphasize his statement. He stared at him, realizing something.

“No, you can only ask for two things. I don’t have much money.” Seven was relieved he stole the money from the gardener.

They stood in front of the truck because it was their turn. The old man had to lean forward to greet them. “Oh, look at you, two cute little kids. What do you want?” His voice sounded grumpy.

Seven, tiredly, looked at Four to give him the chance to ask for whatever he wanted.

“I don’t know yet? What’s in the… um, menu?” Four asked, understanding Kakashi’s gaze.

“I have sandwiches, cones, popsicles, milkshakes, what do you want?” he said in a bored tone. Four did not notice, too excited to even care.

“A chocolate cone and a sandwich!”

The man turned to him “And you little girl?”

“The same,” he answered, his stomach starting to growl. The man nodded and moved to prepare the treats. In less than a minute the old man handled them the cones and the sandwiches.

“It’ll be four dollars.” He took out a billet from his pocket and gave it to the old man who was peeking at both sides looking for someone.

The old man shrugged. “Oh, alright.”

The man gave him the change.

“Sir, do you know how to get to Griddy’s Doughnuts?” The man frowned, scratching his temple.

“I know the place, went there with my grandchildren a couple of times.” The old man mussed. “I couldn’t exactly tell you how to get there, call a taxi.”

Seven nodded. “What’s a taxi?”

“A yellow car that has ’taxi’ written in it.” The old man said almost sarcastically, then narrowed his eyes. “Where are your parents?”

“In that store,” Seven lied, pointing at the place behind them.

“Parents these days,” the man shook his head murmuring to himself, then glanced at Four with a raised eyebrow “Enjoying yourself?” Four made a mess of himself, had ice cream in one of his eyebrows. Seven sighed unsure on how the boy could accomplish that.

The old man gave them napkins. He was quite helpful despite his whole demeanor.

“Thank you, sir,” they chorused.

“Polite kids, uh? That’s new,” he waved at them to get out of the way. “Go off, I have a business to attend.”

Behind them the kids and parents were getting impatient.

They walked near the road, the cone melting in his hand. He tried to eat both things fast. The artificial flavor was good, his stomach getting soothed by the cold sweet.

“Let’s search for a Taxi. It’s a yellow car,” Kakashi instructed the boy.

Four saluted. A few minutes later they saw a woman raising her arm and a yellow car stopping in front of her. Once she entered the car told the driver where to go. It was practical. They copied her, expecting the same result but no taxi stopped for them.

It was getting late, they had approximately fifty minutes left.

Kakashi was losing his patience and decided to move exactly where the woman stood minutes ago. Four was also getting impatient and to pass the time started to sing in a foreign language. He recognized it as German or Dutch or whatever language Reginald choose for him to learn.

Four wanted Kakashi to sing with him. A duet, he said.

It made things worse for Seven, he was ready to hit Four to shut him up, or worse, blow him up like a cup of glass. It was a miracle he did not. Seven was sure the sugar was making Four behave weirder and bolder, unaware of the danger Seven represented.

Finally, a yellow car stopped in front of them and he opened the door in a brutish way.

“Kids, are you alone?” The man asked once they entered the car with incredulous eyes.

“None of your business. Take us to Griddy’s doughnuts,” he was not in the mood to deal with nosy adults.

“Wait, what?”

“To Griddy’s doughnuts,” he said in a growl, trying to calm the sudden rush of anger with a deep breath.

“Alright, alright. Christ.”

The car started to move, and he used the moment to examine the man. Thin, stubble in his face, pale. Looked like he has not taken a shower for days. Blown pupils. A possible threat. Seven put his hand inside the pocket, realizing he should have put the knife inside his right sleeve for a faster response. Four was tugging at the sleeve of his blazer but Kakashi slapped his hand away.

He caught a weird smell like Three’s nail polisher inside the car. It was all washed over his nose and it was bothering him.

“Seven,” Four gestured him to look ahead, to the front seat. He sighed; the boy would not stop being a nuisance. Humoring him, Kakashi looked at what he was pointing. Nothing. The man gazed at them on different occasions through the rearview mirror and he tensed his shoulders, ready to attack if necessary. Four pressed his lips, wanting to say something but could not.

The beep sounds and shouts and engines roaring made him twitch; it was coming from all directions. It started to rain, and he tried to memorize all the places that could be used as pointers when they returned home. Aware that if he wanted, if a thought entered his mind for a second, he could destroy all the cars that were in front of them.

This is why Reginald did not trust him, why Kakashi did not trust himself.

Music entered his mind.

“Turn that off,” he bristled.

“Too young to appreciate The Rolling Stones,” the man didn’t attend his command. Instead the volume increased of intensity. All of the window cracked a little bit but Seven bitted the inside of his cheek to stop doing more damage. The man did not notice.

Kakashi thought if he said something to the driver, he would snap. He clenched his teeth and tried to take deep breaths, counting to ten. Defusing the boiling sensation in his stomach that wanted to explode, a move of his wrists was all it would take to fail the mission.

He flinched when Four’s hand rested on top of his.

He looked at him, wide eyed. They had mirrored gazes. Four was getting agitated, losing color on his face. His hand felt sweaty against his, so he made an effort for the boy.

“Four, what is it?” He struggled to said that. The boy was whimpering and tugging at his own hair. Kakashi did not know what to say, was he underwhelmed at being inside the car, at the smell? His powers? Was he looking at a ghost?

Most likely.

“Ignore it,” he whispered to Four and he nodded weakly.

“What’s up with him?” The man turned to him.

“Nothing you should concern about. Eyes on the road,” Kakashi responded curtly, and he could almost hear the _tch_ from the man’s mouth.

“Kid, do you even have money to pay me?” The driver’s eye was slightly twitching, murmuring something that worried Kakashi.

“I do,” Seven decided to answer him with the true. They were clients after all.

“Really? I wasn’t born yesterday like you. Show me the money.” The man’s tone of voice was getting hostile. Kakashi considered the pros and cons of doing that, he could stop and send them to another location either way, but Seven could kill him without feeling guilty.

Seven showed him a ten-dollar bill.

“Griddy’s,” Kakashi waved the bill and the man snatched it and tugged it under his pocket, the sudden movement earned beep sounds from a car behind them.

“When money is involved, I don’t care if it comes from children,” the driver declared, looking at them through the rearview mirror. 

“Good thinking,” Kakashi said and the man snorted amusedly. Four leaned in his shoulder, and Seven decided to focus on the boy’s heartbeat. His voice was annoying, but the sound of his heart was oddly calming.

He folded his hands, trying to distract himself with the sight of the city. Trees, people, tall buildings, and stores, he tried to memorize it all. The car stopped moving and glaring red words and a drawing of a chocolate donut was all he saw. They were on time.

“We arrived, kiddies. Where’s the rest of the money?”

“I don’t have more money,” Kakashi said. The annoying driver had ten dollars, that should be enough for him.

“Girl, where is the rest of the money?” The man repeated and in a swift move grabbed Four by the collar of his uniform.

“Seven, help,” Four, teary eyed, said with a muffled voice while struggling to get out of the man’s hold.

“Release him,” he said in a controlled tone, realizing that if he attacked him or lost control Four would be harmed. Stabbing the man would attract unwanted attention.

“I’ll do it if you give me the rest of the money.” The eyes of the man were unsettling, almost unfocused.

“Fine. Release him first,” he repeated, not trusting the man.

“A three-year-old isn’t going to order me around, give me the money.” Kakashi handed him the rest of the money with one hand, the other was inside the pocket, grabbing the knife in case the man did not let Four go. “That’s all I have.” The man snatched the money and released Four.

“Get out you fucking kids.”

Seven dragged him out of the car and kicked the door to close it just because he could. The boy could have avoided the man’s hand if he had paid attention, but he was too busy being a _crybaby_. Mad, he raised his hand in the taxi’s direction to make him pay, but Four stopped him by moving his hand out of the way, redirected the attack to a trash can.

Luckily, there were not witnesses to watch the damage.

“Four, you idiot-,” Kakashi growled, with the move of his arms he made a parked car crash with another. He stopped mid rant.

“Shut up, you are the idiot here,” Four sniffed in a broken voice and Seven breathed deeply, realizing just what he had done. Alarms went off and they stared at each other, wide eyed, and started running to the opposite direction to avoid the car’s owners. They could not be blamed.

Griddy’s was in front of them, but they had to cross the road. He spotted a crowd of people not far from them. They were waiting and Kakashi knew it to cross to the other side.

He should have known that before.

“Four, the mission is almost complete. Follow my lead.” The boy rolled his wet eyes the way Kakashi did, looking mad.

“Stupid mission, dumb Seven,” Four kicked a small stone and chuckled to a joke he only knew. Kakashi thought he should be the angry one.

They walked and crossed to the other side of the road. Then walked to left and used the parked cars in front of the donut shop to hide. Seven heard a familiar sound, the heartbeats of that suspicious gardener.

He was inside the shop.

Kakashi decided entering the place and attack him would be a bad idea because there were a lot of witnesses. He needed proof, but he was not sure how to get it without killing him.

Kakashi signed Four to wait.

“What does that mean?” The boy grunted.

It seemed Four was still mad for whatever reason, so he ignored him instead. Four punched him in the bicep, getting bold with him. The man left the place after a long wait and walked towards the right. Seven noticed his clothes were different, a black suit matching the black briefcase.

With a raised eyebrow he followed him in silent steps.

“Be quiet,” he turned and warned Four just in case. The boy had the sense to look cautious.

With their backs to the wall of the donut shop, they leaned a little bit to peek at the man. He was still there, waiting, looking at his wristwatch and eating a donut.

Was he waiting for a person?

The nanny?

The man in the picture?

The gardener did not move and he wondering for a moment if engaging was a good idea because he could destroy the shop.

Losing patience, Seven decided it was. Raising his arm at the gardener’s direction and with a mild move of wrist he built up the energy from the sound of the city in his fingers to attack him, breathing deeply to control it, but a blue light coming from the briefcase engulfed the man.

And just like that, the man disappeared without even noticing them.

A beat of silence, then a second one, Kakashi blinked, incredulous.

“Seven, did you see that? Awesome!” Four cheered, forgetting being mad at him.

“It was like-” Kakashi started but Four stole his words.

“Like Five!” He jumped at the left and then to the right, imitating him.

Yes, like that aggravating boy.

But unlike Five, the man totally disappeared. He could not hear the sound of his heart anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun writing Kakashi like this, as dark as it sounds. I realized that even if he wants to keep his cool, he should struggle even more, I mean he has a highly reactive brain.  
> Kakashi, as a paranoid, is not having fun with that overdeveloped hearing sense in unknown territory.  
> I think I nerfed his range a little bit, but he’s still a kid.  
> Having a brain that can process that much information would make Seven/Vanya a genius, a genius with ADHD at least,  
> but i’m not sure, i’m not an expert haha.  
> Yep, Reginald is a bastard, I want to make that aspect of him shine. I didn’t describe the kid book of One, but it was about a family, lots of pictures of happy faces...  
> Four and Seven struggle with his bonding because they are opposites, but Four calms Seven just a little tiny bit. The next chapter will seal the deal.  
> And yes, that gardener sure is shady.  
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old lady, an aspiring Detective and a Terrorist in the same space, but Four is enjoying the ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but uh, life got in the way (yeah I'm using the most cliche excuse ever :x)  
> So I decided to write a longer chapter, (I was going to split it in two, but nah)
> 
> Warning: Mentions of blood and violence, but nothing graphic.

**Masks and Pills**

**Chapter 6**

**Arc I: The problem with nannies**

**Part V**

“The mission is almost complete,” he announced, trying to compose himself as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll admit I’m curious about this city, but we need to return home.” Four cheering face morphed into a scowl, but it did not have the intended effect in a face that had green doe eyes. Kakashi crossed his arms, challenging him to say something and returning his gaze at full intensity.

“You said we would explore the city, liar Seven.” Four looked shyly at his feet, losing the battle.

Kakashi sighed. “It’s important,” he said. “But we can grab some donuts before we return home.”

Four agreed with that because he started to jump again, reaching for Seven’s hand who moved to the left to avoid him. For years Kakashi has been in seclusion in that house and only the motion picture tapes in class showed him the world and its people. Pogo would describe the world when he asked, but the chimp lacked knowledge in that subject, had spent most of his life being an assistant and doing missions on the moon.

Seven was just as eager as Four to explore The City, but he needed to investigate that man.

“I don’t have money,” he said mildly annoyed because he lost it all to that taxi driver. “Any suggestions?” He asked to the hunched boy who was gasping of exhaustion from all the exercise.

“We should steal it,” the boy looked up and smiled innocently at him. Kakashi raised a surprised eyebrow, did not expect that from him, early Four showed his disapproval when he stole from the gardener.

“Good idea.”

.

Sitting in a bench in front of a pet shop, Kakashi with vague sentences explained how they should steal money. Scanning the area, he hoped no men in uniform were near. A snoring elderly couple at their side made a good cover, as if they were a repellent to the lurking eyes of adults.

“I get it, Seven. Let’s do this,” Four said with a playful glint in his eyes and a subtle curve of lips, a guarded expression he recognized matching Two’s face when One was the target of their antics and did not want to get in trouble with the nannies.

Kakashi eyed him. “Fine, just remember-”

“Apologize, act cute, wait for your signal and bow to them,” Four counted the steps of the plan with the help of his fingers, then cocked his head. “But why should I bow?” Four asked confused.

Kakashi paused, looking for a good answer but could not come with anything plausible. “I’m not sure, but it’s polite.” He shrugged and the boy nodded diligently.

“Search for adults in a suit, a coat or with a purse.” Luckily for them, the current weather was cold enough for the adults to hide their wallets in those accessible pockets.

“Look, that man in beige,” Four whispered and Kakashi looked at his direction. Their target was alone, wearing a coat and had a briefcase in hand.

“Okay, let’s bump into him, you know what to do.”

“Yes ma’am!” He saluted.

They got out the bench and with a quick nod at each other ran towards the unsuspected man, a gust of wind made them bump with more force than intended. The man groaned and stumbled backwards, dropping the briefcase in the process. Kakashi quickly analyzed the man.

There it was, he saw the wallet in his right pocket.

“Sorry, sorry, sir, it wasn’t my intention, I didn’t see you, please don’t tell my grandpa!” Four acted with wild gestures, pointing at the elderly couple to distract him and block his view from the other child. “Let me help you, sir.” Four went for the briefcase but the unaware man shook his head and waved a dismissive hand.

“Don’t worry, kid, I didn’t see you either. Crazy weather we got here,” the target said, reaching for his briefcase while adjusting his hat.

Four in agreement rubbed his forearms. “I know, it’s too cold and windy here. I could almost fly with the wind,” he shouted, and the adult chuckled patting Four’s head.

Kakashi with quick fingers grabbed the man’s wallet and hided it behind his back. He discreetly signed to the kid to stop the act and Four nodded and gave him a thumbs up. Kakashi blinked, acting as if he did not see that obvious signal.

The man narrowed his eyes at both of them and Seven smiled at him, drooped eyelids with a curve of lips.

“I must be going, then,” the man said after an awkward pause.

“Very well good sir, sorry again and have a good day!” They bowed at him.

“You as well, next time don’t run, okay? You could get hurt. Now hurry, go to your gramps,” he chided them looking at the elderly couple and just like that he left. The children watched him disappear in the crowd.

They returned to the bench and Kakashi hoped the man did not notice his lost wallet. It was easy, adults really underestimated children.

“How did I do?” Four asked between giggles.

“Uh, could be better.”

Four stuck out his tongue at him but his eyes still had the same playful glint. Kakashi took the money out of the wallet to count it. “How much? How much?” Seven used his forearm to stop Four’s grabby hands.

“Stop it, let me count.” Four made an unhappy sound with his throat but stopped his antics, letting him count the money.

Sixty-four dollars, a few coins and a plastic card.

“Your reward,” he gave Four half of the money who accept it with excited eyes. “Don’t lose it,”

“Duh, I won’t, I’m not dumb.” Seven raised an eyebrow and Four tugged his hair in retaliation.

“Let’s do it again, please Seven” He thought it was enough money, but they needed a backup in case someone like that driver tried to extort them.

It was also a fun activity.

“Okay, let’s try it again.”

They left the bench with three wallets and a coin purse.

.

The smell of sugar and sweetness entered their nostrils the instant they set foot in Griddy’s. Kakashi analyzed the place, few people there with their children. No police officers. They decided to sit in the stools of the counter. Kakashi did not exactly like sweet food, the rush it gave him messed up his control by having an excited brain, but he did not have a choice.

Four saw a ringing bell and pressed it multiple times, Kakashi hit him lightly in the shoulder and gave him a look. The waitress noticed them and smiled at them.

“Good afternoon children,” the woman in a pink uniform greeted them. “Is there an adult with you to help you with your order?”

“Dad’s waiting in the car,” he quickly responded, pointing behind them. “We can order ourselves.”

“Oh, alright,” she clapped her hands. “We have all kinds of donuts, what do you have in mind? We have chocolate donuts, caramel, strawberry…” Kakashi tuned her out, waiting for her to stop speaking. He looked up at the ceiling and saw circular lights, at his right the wall had pictures of donuts. The place had a reddish atmosphere.

Four with stars as eyes and amazed at everything she said, ordered a dozen of donuts and two cups of milk.

“Aw, what an adorable little boy, I could eat you up,” she cooed and pinched Four’s cheeks. “I'll be right back.”

“Isn’t this fun? This place is amazing!” Four exclaimed while rubbing his cheeks.

“I suppose,” he said distractedly, playing with a butter knife. Now that they were in a quiet place, Kakashi could organize his thoughts. The mission was almost complete, but a total failure. He did not obtain proof nor gained answers, instead, he now had more questions. The man had teleporting abilities like Five.

The gardener teleported to a distance out of his auditive range, meaning he could reach distances of half a mile or even more.

A fight with someone like him and with the intent to kill could end in a second, it would depend in who was faster. Kakashi was not sure if his reflexes were fast enough to kill him first if the man decided to teleport right next to him because the location of that man was unknown to him. No time to prepare.

He would need to stay alert for an attack.

Reginald told them they were extraordinary for having abilities like no one else in this world, but he was wrong or lying. The question was, again, if Reginald was aware of the man’s true nature.

A friend or foe to Reginald, it did not matter, he was a foe to Seven either way.

But the blue light did not come from his hands, it came from the briefcase.

Kakashi scratched his neck.

The implication to that was disturbing. Reginald created it or someone else did but it would be stupid of him to think the old man was the only scientist in this world.

And if something like that existed, a briefcase that could make someone teleport in a second, what else. A blond young man flashed through his eyelids with a tri-point knife in hand, winking at him and wearing an easy smile. Feeling something in his stomach that he could interpret as awe, Seven blinked several times to erase that vision, he did not have time for that.

His nanny was not what she seemed, had contact with that man. The other nannies were not suspicious, but was if he was wrong?

A convoluted test made by the old man.

A convoluted test of what again?

Powers like his own, far too volatile and great, they would like to take them.

But the others had powers just as great.

He was a target, that was the only thing he could be sure of.

But why?

And what if he was wrong?

“Seven, your hand is being funny.” He paused and looked at his right hand, soaked in blood and trembling as if it had its own will. Kakashi balled it up in a fist.

“Yeah…” Four looked like he wanted to say something, but his attention shifted when the woman came with four plates full of donuts.

“Here you go kids.” Four gasped at the sight, licking his lips in anticipation. He was not sure if he could eat half of them.

“Thanks, ma’am,” Seven said. “Do you have something to store the donuts for dad?”

“I do, give me a second.” The woman gave him a white branded box and Four decided to pay for the donuts.

“Enjoy!”

They moved the plates and their milk to a table that was near the door to get out the place quickly. Kakashi took a fork and a knife and with clumsy hands he took a bite of the donut. Four, a messy eater, grabbed one donut with his hand.

“Seven, this is so good!” Four said after finishing the donut. “How come we have never eaten this before?”

“Its unhealthy food, Four. Not good for the body,” Seven said, taking his time to eat the donut. The flavor was okay, but he was actually craving for meat.

“That’s stupid.”

“It also makes us restless, remember your little singing stunt?” Four giggled.

“You were really weird too, Seven, like this,” Four waved his hands and with a silly sound effect he pushed the napkin dispenser, recreating the crashed car. Kakashi snorted.

He needed answers from that boy to avoid getting in a situation similar where Four is too defenseless to protect himself.

“Four, what did you see in that taxi?” The boy looked down with a frown in his eyebrows.

“I saw a ghost,” he answered after a pause as if telling a secret. “She was screaming at me, angry, and no matter how much I tried to block her, she didn’t leave. I was so scared she could hurt me.”

“I see,” Kakashi said, a dry itch forming at the back of his throat, thinking back of sleepless nights and people who looked angry at him for letting them die. “You were mad at me, why?”

“I don’t know, I was just angry, like that stupid ghost.” Four frowned, biting a donut and getting stains of chocolate in his face. Kakashi hummed and gave him a napkin, that was unexpected, if the ghost were capable of affecting his emotions, could it be the other way around?

“Four, you must know they can’t hurt you, they’re, uh…incorporeal.”

“But-”

“They may try, but you can’t let them. Four, that taxi driver, if he wanted, could have hurt you. You can’t drop your guard here.”

“You’re wrong, nothing happened,” Four crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact by looking stubbornly at the window.

“Correct, but-”

“That stupid driver didn’t do anything to me because you were with me,” Four pouted with childish logic. Kakashi was about to hurt him too, that kid was too unaware it was not funny.

He sighed. “Look… just count to ten,” Seven said and even to his own ears it sounded weak, he hid a grimace. His own shortcomings were because of a lack of focus, emotions clouding his judgement, but he could bottle them up, at least could before his nanny showed up.

Four’s powers could not be turned off, sensing and seeing ghosts was as natural as breathing to him.

The boy needed to overcome his fear.

“Count to ten?”

“Yes, you do that while you focus on your breathing.”

“I don’t think it’ll help.”

“It works for me, sometimes, to avoid getting…” he stopped at a loss of words, gesturing vaguely.

“Crazy?”

Kakashi chuckled. “Yes, you could say that.” He rested his chin in his hand, bringing Four here was his decision.

Before he left, Reginald told him he needed to take responsibility.

“I guess it wasn’t your fault. Pay attention.” He moved his middle and index finger. “This means to follow me.” He showed him his palm. “To stop or wait. Affirmative. Negative. Silence. Enemy nearby or spotted. Prepare for an attack.” To each command he moved his hands and fingers to the boy.

“That’s so cool,” Four said in awe, imitating the hand gestures. Seven signing to him would mean Four could protect himself if needed, make him aware of the danger, of enemies that could hurt him, but there was something wrong with that notion.

Kakashi studied the boy, he was the second tallest of them and looked at each corner of the house with fear, but today it was with wonder and clear eyes, different from home. He had some spunk under all of his anxiety and weak will, even if he was a crybaby. Unpredictable and clever, he could take undercover missions because Kakashi saw potential in his acting skills.

But Four, even if he was training to save the world, did not know what he was getting into.

Kakashi was sure Four saw it as a game.

(Hard not to, training to save something they did not know nor love because they were secluded in that house, no people worth protecting except maybe their own skin, not a sense of real danger because Reginald had faceless enemies. A meaningless duty that resembled a kid’s game.)

He cut the line of those treasonous thoughts.

But Kakashi had real enemies, that gardener was lurking in their house, his nanny was breathing the same air as them.

He made a decision.

“Four, this is the most important of all, don’t forget it.” Four gulped. He breathed deeply and tensed his fingers while clenching his jaw. Little by little and in a show of control, a small white sphere of light was forming in the middle of his palm, flickering to the beat of Four’s heart. A signal he made just for the distracted boy, recognizable and easily to spot, white energy he could easily turn into a weapon.

“If you ever see me doing this, you’ll run as fast as you can to hide somewhere safe where no one can find you. No questions asked, you have to do it.”

Four with wide eyes and with curious fingers touched his palm. Seven gasped, fearing it would harm him. “We need to run away?”

He shook his head looking down at their small hands, dissolving the energy. “Not me, just you, I’ll have to stay.”

Kakashi will deal with them.

“Why?”

“Someone has to, give you some time to run,” he nodded to himself liking his plan, the twist of guilt and unworthiness on his stomach at the thought of abandoning Four to his luck disappearing. Four was squirming in his chair.

“But what if nobody can find me and I stay there for hours and hours?”

“Don’t underestimate me, I’m a good tracker.”

“But Seven, I’ll be far, far away and nobody would ever notice I’m gone.” His green eyes were darkening in something Kakashi could not decipher, a look that he recognized seeing in his own eyes when he caught a glimpse of his reflection, a look Four should not be wearing because it was wrong.

They were not talking about the same situation.

“Six would notice, he’d miss his little playmate,” he teased but Four looked away from him, lips trembling. “Two would as well, if he stopped throwing knives at plushies,” he added, thinking of the angry stuttering boy. Kakashi wondered what he was thinking, why Four was in such a bad mood.

“I’d notice, always have,” Seven admitted to Four, thinking about the days in which the boy was not with them, could not hear him. Four gasped.

“Where-,” he stopped the question because he heard something that caught his attention.

_“Sir, have you seen a girl and a boy this tall? They both wear a uniform of an unknown school. They have been spotted around the city without guardians and allegedly stole a man’s wallet.”_

“Put the rest of the donuts in the box. We need to leave.”

They left the store in hurried steps, ignoring the worried eyes of the waitress. Waiting for a taxi would attract more attention and if the police were looking for them it would be easier to be spotted and caught.

“Seven?”

“The police is looking for us.” He did not understand why being kids and alone was such a big deal.

“What are we going to do? We’ll get in trouble with dad.” Four was starting to hyperventilate.

“Only if they catch us. This mission is now C-ranked, the parameters are to reach home before dinner. Our uniforms are kind of obvious on us, search for a coat or something to cover them,” he said while looking at a storefront window that was displaying manikins with clothes. Seven took Four’s hand and walked near some adults to give the illusion they were theirs to enter the store. Four was confused by his words but he did not want to explain.

It was a big store with people lurking in the clothing racks.

Clothes everywhere.

“Avoid bright colors like red or pink,” Seven whispered to Four who was trembling in anxiety. “Four, we are not going to get caught.”

“If you s-say so…”

Seven searched for coats that could fit them, but they were in adult size. Four let go of his hand and ran towards a manikin, leaving him with the donut box.

The people did not look at them twice which was an improvement, probably thinking their parents were somewhere in the store and they were just playing. He did not want to waste more time and took the first thing he saw, a leather jacket in the man’s section. He walked to Four who had an olive-green backpack hanging in his back and a black sweater between his hands, looking at it with adoration.

“Look at what I found, isn’t it cool?”

They had to put the clothes on, but not in an obvious way.

He saw a round garment rack with clothes that could act as a barrier. They could hide inside, he glanced at the people again, but they were minding their own business.

“Get in there.” It was a small space, but it did not matter. Kakashi removed the price tag and put the jacket over the blazer. Four did the same with the sweater and it reached his knees. Seven sure looked ridiculous with the jacket, but at least it did not fall off his shoulders. The boy put the donut box inside the backpack and a pink feathery scarf around his neck. Kakashi did a double take.

“I told you to not wear bright colors,” he hissed.

“But it’s a pretty scarf, I saw it in Three’s magazines.” He rolled his eyes but did not say anything, the kid would get in a worse mood otherwise and he did not want to deal with that.

Three should have been here because her powers were the most useful of all. Mind control was quite something.

Seven heard the same man’s voice inside the store giving a description of them to the security guard. He was with another man, his partner most likely. Two police officers tailing them, his heart started to beat faster at the possibility of getting caught, they needed to get out the place as soon as possible.

Kakashi was not sure how they found them so fast.

“Yes, I saw two little kids matching that description. Let me help you find them.”

He heard their footsteps, but they were far from them, the adults walked on the opposite direction of the store, but Seven and Four could not outrun them.

“Four, prepare to run to the exit.” Four nodded.

He closed his eyes concentrating on the back of the store to create a small distraction, thinking back of his training with Reginald and the glass cups. He clenched his jaw without moving his hands because controlling and directing the attack at an objective would not be necessary this time.

The sound waves of the ambient music would be enough to make the distraction.

He breathed and let go.

A loud noise registered in his brain that acted as a signal to take Four's hand to run towards the exit. Shouts and screams of civilians were ringing in his eardrums, filling him with guilt. He coughed at the contaminated air of dust, but he did not turn to see the damage, not yet.

The people were gasping and asking for help because the explosion triggered them in an alarmed state. Erratic heartbeats everywhere and clothes thrown on the floor.

“Seven, what just happened?” Four asked with round eyes after they left the store, the sound of his heartbeat, strong and rich of life was the only thing he could focus on.

“I don’t know,” he lied.

“Did they die?”

“They’ll be fine,” he reassured Four who was biting his lips, but the words were more to himself. The hearts of the civilians were still beating, probably injured but not dead. He turned to look at the store and saw a crowd forming of people with various states of shock. Seven wanted a small distraction, to just explode some garment racks but it turned out to be something bigger.

He gasped at the partially destroyed building.

Pogo always told him to use his powers for the good of all.

A gift that should be used with good intentions, he’d remind him almost every day with Reginald looming in the door with enigmatic eyes.

Surveying Seven.

And Kakashi would do the same with Reginald.

He just let Pogo down.

A woman shouted something about a bomb and soviets.

.

They walked for almost an hour, getting tired and feeling achy legs of tense muscles.

It was getting dark as well because of the clouds, drops of water running down their faces. They probably had an hour to get home before dinner. The streets were almost empty, just few people with hurried steps and worried faces, he thought it was because of the store.

He put his knife under the jacket’s sleeve.

“Seven I’m tired, hungry and thirsty,” the boy whined, dragging his feet.

“Me too.”

He thought it was safe to call for a taxi because he did not hear sirens nor hushed voices about them, no one was looking for two small children because the City’s attention was on the store. He rubbed his temples, the strident siren’s ambulance from minutes ago gave him a headache.

What would happen if the existence of their powers were known? Reginald was preparing them to be his soldiers, but he was not sure if their job would be in the shadows.

Probably not, they were getting public speaking lessons, a class Three and Five dominated while Two had struggles with because of his speech disorder.

And if that were the case more parties would want their powers. They would mess with their heads and lure them with promises of power, like that abomination did to-

“Seven, look at that!” Four pointed at a fridge and ran towards it wasting the last drop of his energy, he followed him in a slower pace. Snacks and candies of different kinds, there was another fridge, but it had carbonated drinks.

“What an amazing fridge, I want it all.” Four put his face on the glass and Kakashi eyed it curious. “How do we open it?”

Each snack had a price and a code that identified it, he stood on his tiptoes to press the buttons to match the code, but nothing happened.

Four did the same but got the same result. Getting impatient the boy started to kick the machine.

“Stop, we must pay for them,” he looked up at the slot. Four’s expression illuminated in understanding. He took several dollars from his stolen wallet and gave them to Four. “Try it, put the money in the slot.” Four got on his tiptoes.

“No way, I can’t,” Four started to jump but his attempts were in vain because the machine was ridiculously tall. Kakashi decided to keep guard, wanting some chips for him.

He narrowed his eyes at a muffled sound coming from an alley in front of them.

The sound of a screaming lady startled him. “Four stay here, don’t move.” He went to investigate in silent steps.

“I already gave you my money, leave us alone!” He heard the voice of a young female.

“I changed my mind,” said the voice of a male in a menacing tone despite the slurred words.

He saw a man in a hood threating a teenager and an old lady with a knife getting dangerously close to them. A dust of wind whistled in his ears and Seven without hesitation and with removed energy ran towards the man to push him off them, making him fly away with his powers before he cut him. The man hit the opposite wall and fell unconscious.

Seven turned to them; the old lady was okay, and the teenager had a small bruise in her cheek. He pressed his lips in a straight line, it was not a good idea to intervene.

“H-how? Girl, h-how did you do that?” The dark-skinned teenager asked. He did not answer her. He turned-

“Wait!” The girl did a failed move towards him. “Ugh,” she left a low sound in pain and hugged her side, hunching a little.

“Are you okay? Did that man-”

“Yes grandma, I’m fine” the girl said with a broken tone.

It was not his problem anymore and with that in mind he started to walk out of the alley.

“Girl stop, don’t leave,” the old lady intervened. “Thank you for saving us.”

“It was nothing,” he half shrugged.

“Grandma, did you see what she did? That man was in the air for a second.” He closed his eyes, thinking about how to silence them. All of his options came to the same conclusion.

Four ran in his direction with a soda can in hand. “I won a lot of candies, that dumb fridge was no match to me. Look.” He turned to show him the backpack that was now full of candies and snacks. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, wondering how he managed to do that. Maybe all this jumping finally paid off.

“Good job,” he praised and unconsciously patted his head. The boy rubbed his neck, cheeks tainting pink.

“What’s wrong with them?” Four asked noticing the couple and pointing at them with round eyes. The teenager was rubbing her ribs while the old lady reassured her in sweet tones. No far from them the hooded man was still unconscious. He ran a hand through his hair at the sight.

“That man is silly, sleeping in an alley, who does that?” Four giggled, walking towards the man and using his feet to touch his face. He stopped, noticing a trail of blood. “Is he dead?!” He shouted, stumbling backwards and spilling some of his drink in the process. He was glancing in all directions as if searching for someone.

“He’s okay, heart’s still beating.”

“Oh, you’re right, I don’t see an ugly ghost,” Four said, accepting his words quickly and drinking from the can. “Did you hurt him? Probably deserved it, he looks like a bad person. Like those bad guys in Two’s comic books.”

Kakashi, weirded out, was gazing at Four without a comment because he did not flinch at the sight of blood but at the hypothetical ghost.

Curious.

“She saved me from that man,” the teenager answered for him, voice trembling and wiping her eyes.

Four nodded, looking at him with excited eyes. “Of course she did. Seven may be scary and mean and rude and have a dumb hair, but she’s not so bad. She bought me ice-cream and taught me how to steal wallets,” he puffed out his chest, taking his hand. Kakashi was at loss of words.

He was being hyperactive again, probably excited to talk to new people, to a teenager who did not look much older than them.

“Seven? Is that your name?” The girl turned to him, picking up the most important information Four gave her. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, refraining from talking, did not want to give her more information that could be used against him because he would need to kill her.

“Yes, that’s her name! Mine’s Four, by the way!” Four jumped inches above the ground, a feat considering the backpack hanging on his shoulders. The couple looked at them with a slacked jaw.

Kakashi wanted to punch the kid but refrained to do so.

“What?! You’re kidding, right? Those are not real names, w-who are you?!” The teenager asked, getting closer to them with the help of her grandmother.

“Stop, I know what you are doing,” he said to the girl.

“What are you saying? Our names are real, we’re Four and Seven of the Umbrella Academy!”

“Stop talking!” He pushed him to make him stumble but Four in revenge tugged down his hair, he pushed him again but Four had a strong grip. “Ouch, let go of my hair!”

“Shut up Seven!”

“Children, stop fighting!” Four let go of his hair at the tone of the old lady, she sounded like Three’s nanny, the one who did not want the boys to mess with Seven and Three. “Kids, are you here alone?” She asked, face morphing into a gentle expression, worrying eyes in a wrinkled face that could not be mistaken. She was not a threat.

“More like code names, don’t lie to me. And Umbrella Academy? Never heard of it. Do you have weird abilities like your friend?” Kakashi looked at her incredulous, she was actually interrogating them to obtain information. The teenager had a stubborn glint in her eyes, like a snake with a sweet tooth waiting for them to confess everything.

She was the real threat.

Seven should have let that man do as he pleased, he thought darkly.

“Eudora leave the children alone, you’re scaring them,” the old lady chided her making the teenager wince.

“Sorry grandma, I got carried away, but can you blame me? They’re the weirdest kids I’ve ever meet,” Eudora said, studying their forms.

Four laughed at Seven. “She called you weird.”

Kakashi crossed his arm. “She means you.”

But Four did not stop. “I have powers! Not as cool as Seven, though.” Kakashi gave him a look, there was something wrong with that boy. He eyed the red can in his hand, sweets and Four did not mix well.

“He’s a child, doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he said with a blank expression, looking for a way to leave that did not involve getting his hands dirty

“Good try, _little girl_ , but I know what I saw,” the teenager said with a small curve of lips. He looked at the sky, the rain had stopped for a while. They probably had thirty minutes to get home.

“Let’s go,” he took the hand of Four and started to walk towards the sidewalk.

“Children, where are your parents? Are you alone? The City at night is a dangerous place, especially for kids like you.” The old lady shouted after them, scandalized.

“Our safety is not of your concern, worry about yourselves.” Seven was the real threat here.

“Seven don’t be mean,” Four chided him.

“Girly, show my grandma some respect,” the teenager said, putting her hands on her hips.

“You probably have bruised or fractured ribs, you need to go to the hospital instead of wasting my time,” Kakashi said looking at the way she was carefully breathing by avoiding expanding her lungs too much.

“Are you a medic now, kid? Unbelievable.” Seven brushed her off. They walked with their house as a destination, Four glancing back and forth at the couple that was following them. He paid no mind at them, looking instead at the few cars that were passing by, they needed a taxi.

Four was eating from a bag of chips he took out of his backpack when he was not watching.

“Give me.” Kakashi put his hand inside the bag and ate some chips. He quite liked the salty flavor.

“You didn’t say please.” Four punched him in the shoulder.

Seven huffed. “Don’t be such a baby.”

“Grandma, is that man going to be okay? We left him there.” The voice of the teenager stopped their bickering. That was, by far, the stupidest thing Kakashi ever heard and he has been around those children. Four scrunched up his nose, probably thinking something along the line. He muted their conversation.

He did not understand the morals of those civilians, too worried about kids and too worried about criminals.

“We need a taxi. Let’s raise our arm like before,” he whispered to Four when they reached a spot where they could be noticed.

“Kiddos, what are you doing?”

“You told me we’re a team, right? We’re and she’s the enemy. Don’t tell her anything,” Seven said to Four who saluted loyally, smiling and showing his teeth.

“Yes, we’re, just like Batgirl and Robin!”

“Stop following us,” Seven told the couple.

“We can’t leave two little kids alone, no matter how much of a smartass they are.” Another unaware person that did not know what Seven could do to all of them if he wished. Kakashi dreaded the moment he decided to intervene and save them.

Pogo’s teachings were not lost on him as he first thought, he selflessly saved someone.

He cringed at the memory of the partially destroyed store and the desperate shouts of injured, at the crashed cars and the instinct to kill that taxi driver and the gardener and the teenager because he instantly categorized them as threats he must eliminate to feel safe. Red alarms flashing through his eyelids because he was in an unknown territory. Flinching at every sound, alerted of his surroundings but failing because there were rules he did not understand.

Seven really did some bad decisions here.

He started to breathe deeply because the air in his lungs was not quite enough, guilt and wrongness overcoming him and his right-hand twitching, soaked in blood that could never be washed away, no matter how many times he try it.

Four took his hand.

He exhaled.

Seven eyed the boy, his pink feathery scarf making him look even more ridiculous than he was, a backpack full of candies on his shoulders and the black sweater looking like a dress on his small form.

At least Four was enjoying their trip, that smile told him that.

.

They managed to stay with the children.

They called for a taxi and told them it was dangerous for all of them to stay separated. The girl did not look happy but finally accepted.

Eudora was staring at those children, she could not stop doing that, even if it were the rudest thing in the world and his grandma was giving her that _look_ to stop it, but they were strange

Off.

Specially the girl, she was drowning in that oversized jacket, a cute kid but her big brown eyes looked bored, keeping her face out of any emotion, really weird because kids always smiled in that stupidly adorable way.

Eudora was intrigued.

The boy, Four (and what a strange name, they were kidding, right?) was staring at her with really cute big green eyes. She smiled at him to make him trust her, but the boy did not fall for that, turning his face to lean in the girl’s neck. They said something about Batman, didn’t they? And stealing wallets and other worrying things.

And those powers, how did the girl managed to do that?

She was a detective, well, a detective in the making, finding answers was in the job description.

Her ribs were killing her, that man punched her really hard.

She kept her face neutral to hide the grimace of pain.

“I like your scarf, kid. Pink’s really your color,” she said to Four. It was a scarf she would never wear.

Never.

Her friends would laugh at her, her no nonsense image would be ruined.

“Thanks,” the boy said in a small voice and she almost felt bad for thinking about it. With a quick gaze, Eudora inspected the girl, but she was looking the road through the window, chin rested in hand and a bored expression.

But Eudora felt like the girl, Seven, was watching her every move.

She was probably imaging things.

“Were did you get it?”

“From a store,” Four shyly said fidgeting with the scarf, looking at the small girl. A crack from the window next to her startled her. Weird, but this was an old taxi of an equally old man who looked more concerned of the traffic.

Her grandma squeezed her knee to stop and she rolled her eyes. An hour ago something happened in a store, but she did not know the details.

“Huh? The store that-”

“Leave him alone,” Seven said, no, growled. She closed her mouth because the voice felt powerful enough to shut her up. But she was not going to be intimidated by a little girl.

“Protective, is he your little brother? No, that can’t be, you look the same age,” she squinted her eyes at them. “So Seven, how old are you? And what’s up with that jacket, it doesn’t fit you.”

They did not answer her.

“Eudora stop it, this is not the way to talk to little kids.”

“But I’m practicing my detective skills.”

Four snorted, hiding his mouth with both hands. Eudora looked at him with frowned eyebrows, was he laughing at her?

“What?”

“Still with that idea? You shouldn’t spend so much time with your uncle,” her grandma said.

“Grandma, not now.”

Eudora turned to them. “Why did you leave your house, is there something you need to tell us? And where did you get your powers?” Not an answer but she did not get discouraged.

“Four, you said you had powers too, right? It sounds like fiction to be honest with you, but my uncle has seen some weird things. So Seven, care to demonstrate again?”

Her eyes rested stubbornly on the face of that weird girl, but she kept looking in the window.

Another pause and Seven turned to her with closed eyes and a little smile that felt forced.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

Smartass.

“Wow, you’re good, I’ll give you that. So you’re alone in the city, far from home and with weird abilities, that’s a red flag.”

“Your face is a red flag,” Four told her and Seven coughed. Those two were getting on her nerves.

“You little-”

“Eudora, are you really bickering with kids?”

“They started it.”

“Children, Eudora may be quite difficult, but she means well. You’re here all alone and did something… extraordinary. If you don’t have parents or don’t like your home, my son can take you in, you can trust us, okay?” Her grandma had a way with children but Seven had the same bored expression in her face. The boy turned to the girl to watch for her reaction.

"But what about Six and the others?"

“Your concern is appreciated but unnecessary,” she said with a voice without inflection.

The girl told the driver where to go but her grandma and her were going with them, and if the children had parents, they were going to lecture them, or bring them to the police station because that girl looked like she had not slept for days.

They could not leave them behind.

“Stop the car,” the girl commanded, breaking the silence that was getting unbearable. The driver stopped.

“What-” In a swift move the girl pressed a knife in the skin of her neck, and with the other hand she pressed her side. Eudora gasped, the unbearable pain stopping her for uttering a single word.

“Girl, release her in this instant! What are-”

“I know you’ll keep bothering us, but you need to stop asking questions about me or him. This is my last warning: don’t concern about us. You’ll forget about everything you saw today and move on with your life, is that clear?”

Eudora nodded and her grandma was sobbing.

“Child, why are you doing this?” Her grandma asked with fear in her features.

“Four, get out of the car.”

“But Seven… okay, okay.”

“Being this nosy without knowing who you are dealing with, a dangerous move that could cost you your life. Old lady, you’ll get to the hospital and get her ribs cheeked. Not a word about us or I’ll kill you.”

Seven left and she felt tears in her eyes.

The girl closed the car’s door, but the driver did not even flinch at what he saw.

"My Eudora, are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

She almost killer her, but Seven saved her early.

Why did she do that?

The taxi driver stopped at the nearest hospital without them even telling him to do that.

“No need to pay me, that girl already did that.”

.

“Wow Seven, that was so cool. You were like Batman!” Four was excited for what he saw. Copying One’s fighting moves he started to punch the air, but Kakashi did not feel surprised anymore, the kid was weird, period.

He probably did not understand what Kakashi just did.

Money really was something here, glad he gave that driver a lot of money to keep silent if something happened.

He was not proud of threatening civilians, but it was necessary.

It would have been easy to accept that offer, leave the Umbrella Academy with Four, just the two of them, forget about the nanny and the gardener and saving the world but he could not.

They walked towards the alley, probably were on time for dinner, but he was not sure.

He heard Five’s voice, reading in a different language, but he understood.

“ _Sing to me, muse, of a man of many mischiefs, who made many wanderings, since he sacked the sacred citadel of Troy.”_

It was the book Reginald gave them to memorize in his absence. He would need to wear ear plugs, tuning out his most valuable sense to complete the task otherwise it would be impossible to focus and immerse himself on the story. 

_“He saw the cities of many men and marked their mindset, he suffered such sorrows on the sea concerning his spirit seeking to secure his own soul and the nostos of his soldiers.”_

He preferred those that were useful to learn skills. But sometimes the books the old man gave him were insightful enough that he would spend most of his time reading them, just to avoid thinking of his powers and fragmented mind.

With difficulty they climbed the stairs of the fire escape and walked to Five’s window. It was closed and he could not open it from the outside.

He decided to knock it gently because it was a little damaged and did not want to break it.

_“But he could not save them from disaster, however eager he was, for they were ruined by their respective recklessness, hooligans, who ate the heifers of Helios Hyperion who thus hindered the homecoming day for them.”_

Five stopped reading his book, looking up at the window with a dumbfounded expression in his face when he saw them.

Four waved at him with a sheepish smile. “Hello.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, Kakashi is not joking when he says he's dangerous.  
> Imagine that, you leave your kid for a moment and the next thing you know he turns into a criminal.  
> Introducing Eudora Patch was not something I planned but I needed to create a way for the kids to return home, to show more nuances of Four and Seven.  
> Five is reading Homer - The Odyssey. In season 2 he quotes it to grab Reginald's attention.  
> Did you get the reference at the end?
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!:D


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A three-man cell of traitorous people, there are open vacancies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be a flashback (following Kishimoto’s steps) but it’s better to keep the flow.  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

**Arc I: The problem with nannies**

**Chapter Seven**

**Part VI**

The boy slid the window open. “Idiots,” he greeted them. “What are you doing outside?”

“Playing in the alley, got bored here,” Seven lied. Five carefully studied his face in search of deceive, mimicking Reginald when he’d loom over them when he wanted to find _something_. He kept his face free of any emotion and twisted his body to enter the room, then extended his arm to help Four.

“I don’t believe you,” Five finally said, he laid the book on his bed and crossed his arms.

Seven met his gaze. “That’s irrelevant to me.”

“What about your clothes?” Five insisted, more curious than bothered about his dismissive remark. His eyes trailing over his appearance.

“Found them in the trashcan.”

He slowly nodded and touched his jacket, inspecting the fabric with calculative eyes. Kakashi could almost see the gears of his mind working as he regarded him with curiosity, an occurrence whenever a complex puzzle was in front of him in the form of extra homework of his individual training.

Five opened his mouth, the questioning words were on the tip of his tongue, but at the last moment he tilted his head to the left to look at Four.

“That’s a nice dress,” his tone changed to a mocking one, just as his demeanor. His attention now on the nervous boy.

“Yep,” Four rubbed his neck, aware of it. Five sneered at him and Four looked sideways to avoid visual contact. The room was suddenly charged with a weird tension between each other. Seven raised an amused eyebrow, remembering that a month ago they were quite friendly with each other.

He shook his head.

The intricated social relationships of children weren’t a matter of importance to him. He heard the others running around the hall, waiting for their turn to wash their hands. They were on time for dinner.

“Four, hide the sweater and the scarf.” He walked towards the closet and unceremoniously dropped the jacket inside. Trouble would meet them if they were to be seen with those clothes. They could go downstairs but Five was an obstacle. Four hid his clothes under the bed with the boy at his heels.

While the boys were bickering, he took an opportunity to look around the room. At his left the desk had thick books of various subjects, physics, quantum mechanics, chemistry, biochemistry and others. He observed the wall, the written equations in white chalk were advanced and complex, the theoretical concepts too. That a boy could understand them was baffling, but he was a genius, it was apparent to Seven since he was a baby.

His ability needed a prodigious mind to operate, a slower mind would be a bad match to it.

That a briefcase could do the same, that Reginald or someone out there could create it.

“Oh?” There was another one, judging by its appearance the book was brand-new, a gift from Pogo most likely, Five probably didn’t touch it. 11/22/63, Seven read on the cover. A sci-fi novel about-

“No, leave me alone, it’s mine!” He quickly turned with a raised arm at the alarmed voice. The boys were pulling the strings of the backpack on contrary directions, he lowered his arm.

“Show me what’s inside!” Five was winning, his face was turning red from exertion.

“Don’t wanna!” Four firmly planted his feet against the floor and pulled, he had a stubborn streak in him, making the match even. Seven heard a suspicious tearing sound.

“Don’t be stingy, you broke my window!” He pointed with his head at the damaged crystal.

“It wasn’t me; Seven did that!”

The room fell silent as soon as those words left his mouth. Five let go of the string with ease and Four fell backwards, he mouthed a ’sorry’ to him.

Five slowly walked and stepped in front of him. He had a cold expression on his face. “First you eat my cereal without my _permission_ , then you enter my room without my _permission,_ and now my window is broken because of you, because you entered my room without my _permission_!”

“Uh, what?” Four wrinkled his nose.

He forced himself to smile, “sharing is caring.”

“That’s right, sharing is caring,” Four echoed and strongly embraced the bag, it creaked. Five snapped his head at him but Four recoiled.

“Stop being so sensitive,” he admonished Five.

“Shut up.”

While their conversation was happening, the sound of quick steps came from the other side of the door. He tensed like a wire and ordered Four to hide the backpack under the bed.

The door slammed open and a nanny emerged from it. Mrs. Robinson, a fairly new nanny assigned to One, Two and Four, but sometimes took charge of the rest. 

“Number Five, have you seen-” The nanny trailed off as she casted inquisitive eyes on the picture before her. Five scowling at Seven, who was casually leaning against the wall and Four glancing uneasily at the bed. All heads turned to her.

“Number Four, Number Seven,” she shattered the silence with a sigh of relief that left her mouth. “I’ve been looking for you, children. Where were you?”

“Oh, um, we-” Four shifted anxiously on his feet, Seven gave him a pointed look and signed to him to stop.

“We were playing hide and seek,” Four quickly amended and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Is that true?” She asked, skeptical. Seven and Four exchanged a quick look and nodded at her. “I couldn’t find you.”

“We’re just good players,” Seven waved dismissively.

The nanny rested irked eyes on him. “Games in this house are prohibited, even if your father isn’t here, only on Sundays you have permission to do so.”

“Sorry,” they chorused. Four lowered his head and bit his lips. He thought the boy was a really good actor.

She put her hands on her hips. “Tomorrow you’ll meet me after class to discuss your punishment, I’ll make sure you complete your homework. Dinner is ready-”

Seven couldn’t believe people swallowed lies so easily.

“They were outside, look in the closet and under the bed.” Five sat down in his chair and looked at the spectacle that was about to unleash with vindictive joy. The nanny eyed the closet with a raised eyebrow.

Four gaped at him. “Traitor,” he accused.

“We never were allies,” was his simple response.

Four frowned but reluctantly nodded. “True.”

Although the term was incorrect, Five being a traitor wasn’t surprising. He glared at Five, who grinned at him with small dimples forming in his cheeks that mislead his true nature.

“He’s lying,” Seven informed, trying to project innocence while pointing an accusatory finger at the boy before the nanny searched in the closet or noticed the damaged window.

The nanny watched him, he continued now that her attention was on him. “Five wanted to test his abilities because _dad_ isn’t here. He ordered us to play with him in his _room_.”

His winning expression morphed into incredulity. “She’s lying, don’t listen to her.”

“Five had an accident when he wanted to show off his abilities while playing, then cried because he got his equations wrong,” Seven stated.

“I don’t show off, much less cry, and I never miscalculate!” His voice got higher. The nanny rested suspicious eyes on the boy.

Five liked to be praised, it fed his growing ego, the smartest nannies knew that. He tested his abilities after studying and writing down equations like a mad, reclusive, little scientist in his room. He’d teleport like a bouncing mammal just to prove he had a better grasp of his abilities than them when it was their free time.

It pissed everyone off on various degrees.

“Yeah,” Four sided with him. “Five wanted to play hide and seek, I couldn’t say no because he’s a meanie.” Four shoved his knuckles into his mouth to hide a giggle. Seven nodded at him, he was proving himself to be a trustworthy ally.

“Number Five,” she addressed him with a severe tone, “your father explicitly said to avoid using your abilities in his absence.”

“I didn’t use them,” he defended himself. “Are you really believing her lies? I thought you smarter than that.” He crossed his arms indignantly.

His attitude was working on their favor.

“Don’t disrespect me, boy,” her tone was biting but it had a layer of unsureness as she discretely glanced at each child.

“Look at the way he hunches, he’s injured,” he added for good measure. The nanny squinted her eyes but listened. Five clenched his fist, he lost. She stepped in front of him and methodically inspected his face with cold fingers, then his torso. He exaggeratedly winced.

“Does it hurt?” She asked with a clinical tone.

The nannies avoided touching them or showing care in a way that could be misunderstood by the child, as their job wasn’t permanent.

“…A little,” he admitted.

“What happened?”

“I tripped.”

“Must be just a bruise, you’re fine.” Five forced himself to maintain a neutral face, he was about to smile. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, his shoulder was slightly off. He faked his reaction to make the nanny believe he was injured on his side when it was actually his shoulder.

That was amusing.

And stupid.

The nanny rubbed her temple. “I see it now, I don’t care who is lying or who isn’t, you three are always causing problems.” She shook her head disapprovingly, her gaze lingering on him the longest, filled with an emotion he knew too well, fear.

“Why can’t you be more like Number One?” Four chuckled while Five clicked his tongue in annoyance.

They were always compared to him.

“Tomorrow after class you will meet me to discuss your punishment, we’ll have a long talk about the consequences of your actions. Is that understood?”

“But-” Five said. The nanny raised a hand to stop him.

“Is that understood?” She repeated.

“Yes,” they chorused. Five was glaring at him.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t come downstairs children, you don’t get to eat dinner.” She pursed her lips in a tight line and left the room without another word. 

“That’s for being a snitch,” Seven said with contempt.

Without warning, Five teleported in front of him and placed his foot around his ankle, then shoved him with force. His head banged against the floor as he fell flat on his back, the same way Five fell when they fought in the kitchen.

Seven leaned forward, he was about to critically hit him, aiming at his injured shoulder with a palm heel strike but retracted at the last moment.

Five looked at his raised hand with a tilted eyebrow. “I won’t hit you, even if you’re a liar,” Five said it like he wanted to punch him, baring his teeth.

“You tested your abilities unsupervised and got yourself injured,” Seven reminded him in a cold way, he stood up and straightened up his uniform. “Thanks for being a good cover for us.”

“Maybe I should,” Five snarled.

“Don’t be mad, I have candies-” Four said with a timid voice.

“I don’t hear you,” he replied just to be obnoxious.

“Don’t be mad, I have candies in my backpack,” he raised his voice to sound more confident. He picked up the backpack that was under the bed and released its content on the mattress.

Five stilled.

“You can take one,” he gave him permission. Seven internally facepalmed.

“Where did you get them?” Five drew closer to the bed, his scowl disappearing now that the sight of candies illuminated his face. He also didn’t look bothered about missing dinner.

Seven looked at Four with squinted eyes, telling him about their misadventure could be used against them, but what they did wasn’t something easy to believe. They’d think Five is lying to get revenge. That or they could believe him, a tangible proof is that store, they could connect the dots.

Reginald could connect the dots.

He already warned Four to remain silent and not tell anybody about the mission nor the store. He didn’t care about the candies at all, but they could be used as a bargain chip. Children were predictable like that.

“I stole them myself,” Four puffed out his chest. He frowned at his word choice but left him be. “I was like Ah! Gah! Bam! And then they fell like leaves…”

He sat down on the floor and extended his auditive sense, closing his eyes and tuning out their conversation. A sound of metallic utensils clicking against the ceramic plates, that told him the children were eating in the dining room. A high voice asking about them, Six, no doubt. The severe voice of that nanny telling him that they were grounded. Another leaving the property as her shift was over. Another walking around the training rooms, he frowned. His own nanny still missing, the gardener still outside in an unknown location. Pogo in his room, his calm heartbeat told him he was sleeping.

That was strange, he normally waited for them.

Sneaking out of the house was easy, too easy. Nothing would stop him if he were to leave the house again. In retrospective, that was suspicious in itself.

Something was missing.

“What’s in the box?” Five asked.

“Donuts, I bought them with money,” Four said proudly, he realized now that the boy was bragging. Five took one and gave it an appreciative look, he tentatively bite the donut.

“Its’s really good, right? Better than cereal.”

“…It is,” Five answered, hiding his excitement, overlooking the fact that they had money. They still had a lot of it. “So it’s called _donut_ , interesting.” 

Seven watched them with tired eyes. He couldn’t make a move with so many unknown variables; the suspects weren’t in the house.

He needed to wait.

“Four, hide the candies,” he said while climbing up on the bed.

“Why?”

“Just do it.” Four started to pack the candies in the backpack. “Five, let’s keep this a secret between the three of us,” he kept his tone civil.

Five as an answer teleported out of the room. He bit his cheek.

“Oh, where did he go?” Four asked and offered him a chocolate bar, sliding the backpack under the bed. He sat next to him after climbing up the bed.

“Kitchen.” He removed the wrapper with careful fingers, gazing at the brown sugary treat with blank eyes. Four was munching his own treat with happy eyes.

They waited for him. Seven heard the suspicious sound of a fridge being open and then being closed.

He appeared with something on his hand.

“Why would I-” His question died off with a yelp when he took a step forward. With clumsy feet he crashed on his nightstand, as if he weren’t sure where to place them. Before falling, and with the quick reflexes of someone who had a lot of experience, he rested both palms against its surface to anchor his feet on the ground.

A book hit the floor with a thud.

Seven and Four shared a look.

Five gathered himself and turned, hiding a wince of pain. He raised his head with dignity and looked down his nose at them, daring them to utter a single word.

Four slapped his palm against his mouth to prevent laughing at him. He didn’t do a good job, the muffled sound from his throat came in strident tones. Four stopped when he noticed the boy glaring at him.

 _He loses orientation, maybe he gets dizzy because of the energy consumption that long-distance teleportation requir_ _es_ _, he also brought an object with him_ , Kakashi noted with interest. 

Five picked up and pressed a bag of frozen peas against his shoulder to numb the pain. He sat down on the desk chair and used his legs to slide himself near the bed, in front of them.

“Why would I keep this a secret?” Even if his wording was antagonist, he saw curiosity on his eyes.

Seven didn’t care about having Five on his team, but he could make a good cover in case they were blamed. After all, the boy had a tight leash around his neck, he was cannon fodder to him.

“South-West, 28.6 miles, Griddy’s doughnuts,” he said.

Five fixed his eyes on him. “What’s that?”

“A location that might be of your interest.”

“Yep, it’s a donut shop, we bought those donuts there,” Four stood up and started jumping on the bed, Seven thought it was almost instinctually. “That place is amazing; we can go there again.” He clapped his hands.

“Ah, yes,” he added noncommittal.

Five considered it. “I’d like to visit that fascinating place, but I don’t like you. You’re a liar and you think you’re better than me,” he said petulantly.

Seven hid his astonishment, that was rich coming from him.

“Aw, c’mon Five, she’s not so bad.” Four sat down again. “I mean, she may have dumb hair, but no one is perfect.” He took a lock of hair and Seven grabbed his wrist with force. Four whimpered and let go of it.

“You’re right, her hair is dumb.”

His hair was fine.

“Don’t forget you snitched on us first, I’m giving you a second chance,” he resumed the conversation before it deviated.

Five narrowed his eyes. “You broke my window,” he accused while pointed at the window.

“It’s not even broken, just slightly scratched.”

“Perhaps,” he conceded, “but you ate my cereal, you didn’t ask for my permission.”

“I was hungry,” he clenched his jaw. “You stole my book.”

Five paused. “So it’s about that,” he said after a while. “I remember about your book, you read it hundreds of times, right? I didn’t find it challenging enough so I gave it a better use, there was a cockroach and,” he slapped the armrest to imitate the sound. “That happened.”

More books started to drop on the floor, Five glanced at them with curiosity. His pompous voice annoyed him to no end but Seven took a long and deep breath before doing something he’d later regret.

“You’re lying, don’t even try to deny it,” Seven said after counting ten.

Four scratched his cheek and started to sweat.

Five rolled his eyes. “I actually had his help,” he pointed with his thumb at Four. “He distracted you and I stole it; I gave it to him afterwards.”

Seven clenched his teeth, turning to Four.

Four colored when the attention shifted on him. “It wasn't like that, Seven. He asked for my help; I couldn't say no,” he denied with wild gestures.

Four, with all of his flaws, wasn’t someone who liked to please the others.

“Just like you couldn't say no when Two asked you to set my notebook on fire?” Five bristled him with intense eyes of rage.

He didn’t know that.

They both looked at him, expecting a response.

Four let out a giggle, but with surprised eyes he stubbornly pressed his trembling lips in a tight line. He easily crumbled under the pressure of their stares and laughed, hiding his face with his hands. Feeling guilty and nervous or being amused of his past actions, Kakashi would never know. He did what he liked to do and avoided the things he didn't like.

Four was simple like that.

What he liked to do, that’s what was worrying.

“You’re a traitor,” Five pointed incredulous at the boy, expecting an apology. Seven shouldn’t feel surprised, but he was seeing Four in a different light, again.

“Did you burn my book too?” He had to ask; his favorite book had important information.

He let out another giggle before he answered, “um, I don't think so?”

“So, where it is?”

Four rubbed his chin in deep contemplation. “Let me think.”

Five scoffed. “He probably doesn’t even remember what he had for breakfast.”

“He can be _surprising_ ,” he said.

Seven was waiting expectantly, even Five, but the boy was doing a weird, high sound with his throat.

Four gave up. “…Sorry, I don't know where I left it.”

He kept a clear mind.

“But Seven, it’s just a book, I’ll buy you a new one, lots of them. Don’t be mad at me.” He remained silent to avoid doing something he’d later _regret_.

“Will you buy me a new notebook too?” Five asked mockingly.

He bit the inside of his cheek, hard enough it was painful, redirecting his attention on Five. “If you snitch on us again, I'll tell the nannies about the injury on your shoulder, about that time when you messed up a machine in Pogo's lab, that it was you who spilled wine on the books of the library. I have more… _dad_ won't like that.”

Five smiled, unimpressed. “Are you threating me?”

But Seven could hear the boy's frantic beating heart. “What do you think?”

Four was glancing between them, nibbling the chocolate bar he gave to Seven.

“First of all, that wasn’t me, it was Two who ruined those books. Secondly, if you do that then I'll show them the clothes, the candies and my _scratched_ window. Dad _won’t_ like that.” Five faked a calm voice.

Seven glared at him, Five met his eyes with the same intensity. Unlike Four, that aggravating boy didn’t back down from a challenge.

After moments in which no one dared to even blink, they nodded at each other, reaching a silent agreement.

Four blinked. “Then nobody tells nobody?” He asked confused. Seven didn't answer him.

Four punched him in the leg, offended at his silent dismissal, he punched him back.

“Ouch!”

Mrs. Robinson entered the room again. They froze. “You’re still here,” she mused aloud. “Four, Five, you too Seven, meet me in ten minutes in the bathroom, it’s time to take a shower.” She left.

A few minutes passed before they headed down the hallway towards the green stairs. They passed Six, who had his room in the same floor as Five.

He smiled when he saw them. “You missed dinner, where were you?”

“In Five’s room,” Four replied with a matching smile.

He got closer to them and whispered, “I kept some food for you guys, I left it in the basement fridge.”

“Thanks, Six.” Kakashi ruffled his wet hair before he could stop. “I knew you were my favorite for a reason.”

He beamed. “Am I your favorite?” His dark, slanted eyes made him feel nostalgic.

“Sure.”

.

Seven washed his hair with warm water, the fruity scent nauseated him. He had asked for a shampoo and a soap without fragrance, but his request was rejected because Three liked that specific brand.

Talking about favoritism, he closed his eyes.

Having a strong scent on him made him nervous, thinking he’d get easily spotted by unknown enemies, but people didn’t have a strong sense of smell, that’s what he always told himself to relax.

“I can do it myself,” he told to the nanny that was about to wash him with a pink sponge.

“Suit yourself, girl.”

He wondered where his nanny was, she’d leave the property some days, but no one reacted, as if expected.

.

After washing his teeth and putting his pajama on, he went to his room and settled on his bed. The nanny edged away from it. “I expect you to stay in your room.”

As the lights went off, he wondered if that nanny was allied to them too. He stared at her without a word, but she took a step back, alarmed. He chuckled without humor.

“Good night,” she curtly said and left.

Seven gazed at the ceiling.

Her light steps reached out of the building and settled on her room.

.

“Four,” he knocked his door. “Let’s go to the basement, I’m starving.”

“Don’t wanna,” he childishly crossed his arms.

He rolled his eyes and ignored him. Four, predictably, got out his bed and darted off to him.

Once they reached the basement-kitchen, he turned the lights on and opened the fridge, there was a big plate with leftovers. He warmed the food with the microwave, then laid the plate on the wood table. He pulled-out a drawer and grabbed two forks.

With a yawn, he sat in his chair, Four sat in the chair next to him. The warm food graced his senses, and he sighed in relief, there was meat. He ate quickly, with big bites of food, feeling like a starved toddler.

“You’re eating too fast,” Four whined. “Leave me something.”

Grudgingly, he divided the food in two parts.

“I think I left it in the attic,” Four announced between bites of food.

He was talking about the book, so he did remember. “Right.”

“We should find your book tomorrow.”

Seven hummed in agreement.

Suddenly, a blue light appeared in the kitchen. He raised his hand but immediately stopped. It was Five.

“Huh,” he said before disappeared.

“What was that?” Four asked.

“…I don’t know.” Seven raised from his chair and filled two glasses with water, he was getting nervous.

With a partially full stomach, leaned back in the chair

The stairs that lead to the basement squeaked under the quick feet of two children, he went alert again but immediately relaxed, those breath patterns belonged to Five and Six.

“Four, Seven,” Six called them in a whisper, hurriedly sitting down next to them. “Five told me about the candies, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Yeah, why?” Five was eating from a small bag with colorful candies.

That traitorous boy was getting on his nerves.

Seven couldn’t lie even if he wanted, not with Five there, eating candies in the open.

“Seven, Seven, Seven,” Four was bouncing on his chair with uncontainable energy, excited to tell confidential information to Six. “Please, please, please.”

He gave him a look, Four slowly stopped his antics, then gave him a thumps-up and signed to him a 'got it'. They could talk about anything _excep_ t the mission or the clothing store. Secrets were secrets for a reason.

“Six,” he addressed him. “Four will tell you about the candies, but don’t tell anybody and as a reward for your silence you’ll get to eat candies. Nod if you understand.”

Six widened his eyes and nodded resolutely. “I won’t tell anyone,” his voice was firm.

Seven, deep down, didn’t believe him.

“That goes for you too, Five,” he hissed. The boy was unimpressed and obnoxiously munched a candy.

Seven raised his hand when a stair squeaked, another person was going downstairs.

“What?” Five said.

“It means to shut up,” Four answered.

“Like a secret code?” Six asked and Four shrugged.

“Come in,” he said.

A figure emerged, it walked with the natural confidence of the only person he wouldn’t involve at all.

Seven’s left eye twitched.

Number One, future Team Captain.

_“You’re late for training again, stop making dad mad.”_

_“It’s against the rules to…”_

That were the echoes of a boyish voice that nagged him around the house.

If there was someone worse than Five, it was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Writing Four and Five together was fun, they’re a handful.  
> -There’s something Kakashi is overloking, it has to do with Reginald’s paranoia.  
> -Seven should have paid more attention to what Four said :P  
> More siblings, finally.  
> Next chapters will have more action, I guess.  
> I think I forgot to tell this, but the whole point of this arc is to introduce Grace (yep haha) and... there’s something that happens in canon, still undecided though.  
> Well that’s all,  
> Thanks for reading :)

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to create this fanfic because Kakashi is one of my favorite characters and lately I have read a lot of crossover and reincarnation fanfics that I found really good, I wanted to create one as well. The Umbrella Academy universe is kinda interesting, especially its characters, so yeah I figured, why not.
> 
> This Kakashi wakes up in Vanya's body, and over the time he loses his memories (will still have some reminders) I decided to do it like this, otherwise Kakashi would do something to get out of the Hargreeves house or even kill Reginald (haha) and then I would not have fun writing this. The story has plot and will not exactly follow canon so I hope you like it. Also is kind of dark so probably there will be some warnings later, and is a slow burn of sorts (platonic).
> 
> If you can, let me know what you think of it, any kind of feedback is apreciated.


End file.
